CEDR announces the Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE MP as its new Chair

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), the not-for-profit international dispute resolution body and conflict management consultancy, has announced that the new Chair of its Board of Trustees is the Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE MP.

Sir Julian is a former UK Cabinet Minister and business entrepreneur who entered the UK Parliament in 2010 as Member of Parliament for Skipton and Ripon. He will be CEDR’s seventh chair in its 35 year history, and the third chair to have achieved CEDR’s internationally recognised Accreditation as a civil and commercial Mediator (in 2021).

Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE MP said, “I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed to chair the Board of CEDR, an organisation admired by many for its work in the UK and overseas. As CEDR enters its 35th year, I very much look forward to working with the trustees and executive team. There is a real opportunity to maximise the use of mediation in the justice system and to help meet the objectives of this government across the economy to improve productivity by resolving disputes. The skills that CEDR teaches globally have a really important role to reduce conflict across all of society in an age when such skills have never been needed more.”

James South, CEDR Chief Executive commented: “We could not be more pleased to welcome Julian as our new chair. I speak on behalf of all of CEDR when I say we are enjoying working closely with him and are benefiting from the hugely valuable insight that his experience brings to the role of Chair.

During his time in Parliament Sir Julian has held various roles in Government. He became a Privy Councillor in 2017 and was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in 2019. In his different roles he has led a number of high-level and challenging negotiations in different areas of public life, frequently working to achieve agreement, including in the restoration of the power sharing agreement in the government of Northern Ireland, which he did twice in both 2020 as Secretary of State and again as Prime Ministerial Advisor in 2024. Sir Julian also mediated the end of the Nursing pay dispute with the NHS and was in the team advising on the negotiation of the Windsor Framework.

Having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019, in 2024 Sir Julian was then appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB). Both awards were given for his political and public service. Sir Julian is also Chair of the International Finance Facility for Education.

The previous Chairs of CEDR’s board have been senior businessmen Sir Alex Jarratt and Sir Peter Middleton, educator Dr Elizabeth Vallance, politician the Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell, and senior lawyers Alexandra Marks CBE and Joanna Page.

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About CEDR
CEDR is a conflict management consultancy and Europe’s largest independent Alternative Dispute Resolution service for commercial and consumer disputes handling thousands of referrals a year. CEDR operates the Court of Appeal’s Mediation Service and is certified by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute under the European Union Directive on Consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution. CEDR is a leading negotiation and conflict management trainer internationally and its acclaimed Mediator Skills Training Accreditation has been awarded to over 9000 mediators in 70 countries. As a registered charity and non-profit organisation with a public mission to innovate and develop conflict management and dispute resolution CEDR undertakes unique foundation activities such as the National Negotiation Competition and its Skills for Life programme to equip young people to deal with conflict in working. www.cedr.com

For further information please contact: Andy Rogers, CEDR, +44(0)20 7536 6000,arogers@cedr.com