Gary Cook Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

Lloyds Banking Group is a leading UK based financial services group providing a wide range of banking and financial services, focused on personal and commercial customers. We are the largest retail and commercial bank in the UK, with over 25 million customers in all parts of the UK.I lead the development and delivery of public policy on behalf of Lloyds Banking Group, working directly with government, Parliament, the civil service, devolved authorities, trade associations, think tanks and other external partners to shape and secure lasting policy change that helps Britain prosper. I lead policy, research and stakeholder relations work, provide internal counsel, and manage a network of critical relationships that allow Lloyds Banking Group to be the UK’s partner for growth.

London, England, United Kingdom

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles is joint Government unit at the intersection of the transport, energy and auto sectors. Our mission is to de-carbonise UK transport, reducing our impact on the climate, improving air quality, and supporting a thriving UK auto sector. We set the strategy, policy and delivery frameworks to achieve this mission, including managing over £2bn of Government investment in the transition to a net zero economy.

London, United Kingdom

• Set up a new team established to deliver the Secretary of State’s commitment for the UK to be an international leader in consumer health tech. Leveraged £3bn of private sector investment from a government contribution of £1bn. Maintained market monitoring function on behalf of UK government, identifying and prioritising potential investment and business development opportunities in the areas of life sciences, climate and sustainability.• Delivered £120m of transformation funding to establish a commercial partnership between the Government and life sciences sector to embed the latest DNA analysis technology in the NHS. This included setting up a new digital platform and working with the NHS to establish regional laboratories to provide results to patients. Put in place programme governance, targets, and financial reporting to ensure successful delivery and efficient use of resources.• Developed the business case and secured financial support for establishing a new digital innovation centre in the NHS, to harness the potential of data to support research. Recruited the leadership team, grew the centre to 10 people, and delivered five early stage ‘proof of concept’ projects to demonstrate value. Dealt with high levels of ambiguity in a cross-matrix environment.• Consistently rated in top 10% of high potential senior civil servants and achieved grade after only 6 years rather than the usual 10 - 12.

London, United Kingdom

• Established a new team working directly to the Home Secretary to deliver a wide range of policy, operational, sustainability, climate and ESG transformation projects across the full breadth of the Home Office’s 30,000 workforce, demonstrating thought-leadership and the ability become a trusted advisor. • Key highlights were projects dedicated to reforming Government policy on financial services risks from illicit finance resulting in a tightening of the appropriate regulations; and, working directly with the large technology companies and the police to address the risks of vulnerable children going missing from care homes. • Built extensive knowledge of how to deliver transformation projects internationally. Two key highlights were successfully negotiating the Sandhurst Treaty with the French Government, the first Anglo-Franco border agreement in 15 years; and delivering the policy framework to support the clearance of the Calais camp in autumn 2016. This involved navigating complex international relationships in a highly pressurised and diplomatically sensitive situation. The result was 800 unaccompanied children being relocated to the UK in just 10 weeks.• Consistently rated in top 10% of high performing civil servants and promoted twice in four years.

London, United Kingdom

As Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, I act as the channel of communication between the Secretary of State and the Government, including across Downing Street, Cabinet and the wider department.I inform and advise the Secretary of State on constitutional, governmental and policy matters relating to energy and climate change. As part of this I have overall responsibility for driving the Secretary of State’s policy decisions through the department and ensuring that the strategy of the Secretary of State is clearly articulated and fully implemented by the department.Other responsibilities include organising the Secretary of State’s official programme at home and overseas; working across central Government to drive policy change; and dealing with the Secretary of State’s official correspondence and correspondence with members of the public.

London, United Kingdom

As the Key Investment Strategy Manager in the Venture Capital Unit, I was responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining the strategy that addresses the contemporary challenge faced by UK high-growth small and medium size enterprises in accessing equity capital in order to fund their development and growth. The strategy can be broken down into 4 key areas, which I was responsible for delivering:1. Stimulating venture capital interest in the UK by developing public and private sector relationships with targeted and qualified organisations.2. Identification of UK investor-ready companies through an open, fair and transparent process and facilitate the opportunity for UK companies to pitch to potential investors.3. Develop a knowledge base of information that outlines what UK companies need to know in order to successfully bid for venture capital funding and to facilitate training on how to effectively pitch to venture capital organisations.4. Deliver improved Whitehall coordination by acting as a centre of knowledge for the UK Trade and Investment network both domestically and overseas, and ensuring appropriate linkages with departmental colleagues.

Working on Foresight projects that aim to inform government policy and strategy, and to improve how science is used in Government and by society, has involved developing an acute strategic awareness to continuously utilise the latest scientific research within policy. I have had the opportunity to manage and deliver on a number of key tasks, taking responsibility for project management and risk management and also to take mitigating action when there are problems or risks to delivery. I have worked on two projects that have assembled and analysed the latest, most innovative evidence and research into identity and computer trading. This has included challenging concepts related to both of the subject areas, including how they are influenced by technology, the environment and economic circumstances. I have developed an ability to make connections between expert inputs from diverse disciplines and draw together information from a vast range of sources, producing succinct conclusions, which have resulted in policy changes at the EU Commission level.

As an American Express Graduate, I had a responsibility to deliver new and innovative ideas whilst demonstrating my ability to perform a daily role within the organisation. The scheme has given me the opportunity to work and train as a Programme and Project Manager with the following responsibilities:• Delivery of approximately $6 million (U.S.) of web-based technology projects with a focus on the scoping, managing and delivery for each project as well as ensuring regulatory legal and compliance processes are followed.• Management of teams from 5 – 15 people, depending on the size of the project, including line management for 4 team members.• Management of the full project lifecycle from conception through to implementation including taking a high level business concept and eliciting explicit and accurate requirements that meet the customer needs.• Extensive experience of stakeholder management from 8 key international markets and business groups.• Management and employment of offshore resources based in India in a cross-matrix organisational structure.

Master Of Science (M.Sc.), Public Policy

Master Of Science (Msc), Information Technology

MSc in Information Technology

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Information Technology

BSc in Information Technology