The Honorable Mary Jo Jacobi Jephson Appointed as Chair

August 13, 2009

DONCASTER, England, August 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honorable Mary Jo Jacobi Jephson has been appointed Chair of The idm Group, a national board support and director development consultancy which is passionate about raising organisational performance across the private, public and third sectors.

Mary Jo offers world-class expertise in brand, reputation and crisis management, public affairs, executive development and corporate cultural awareness. She has a combination of experience gained at the heights of the private, public and voluntary sectors on both sides of the Atlantic. A former senior advisor to US Presidents George H W Bush and Ronald Reagan, Mary Jo has held senior executive positions with Royal Dutch Shell, Lehman Brothers, HSBC Holdings and Drexel Burnham Lambert, and devised and executed the award-winning global brand strategies for Lehman and HSBC.

Chief Executive, Dean Fathers, says: "Mary Jo brings a rare wealth of experience which will be of enormous benefit to the on-going development of our Group's and clients' activities. A key initiative during the first months of Mary Jo's appointment will be supporting us in the re-branding of the Group, to sharpen our image and raise our profile across a wider audience."

Mary Jo's current portfolio comprises Her Majesty's Civil Service Commissioners, Chair of the Forensic Science Service's Independent Advisory Group, Criticaleye, International Marketing Partners and Gerson Lerhman Group. She also is on the boards of several third sector organisations and is a Visiting Fellow of Oxford University and Leeds University Business School.

Mary Jo comments: "I'm honoured to join Dean in leading The idm Group to build board and director expertise. Organisations' boards need the best governance arrangements provided by highly qualified directors who are equipped with the appropriate skills to guide their organisations through these turbulent times."

Notes to the Editor

About The idm Group: website http://www.the-idm-group.com

Founded in 1995, The idm Group comprises Independent Decision Makers, Maven Investors and Pilgrim Fathers. The Group provides board support, director development and equity investment, positively impacting upon clients' strategic objectives by supporting, challenging and developing the capability of their leaders.

About the Honorable Mary Jo Jacobi

Mary Jo Jacobi is also Chair of the Wilton Park USA Foundation and Non-executive Director of the American Council on Germany, Benjamin Franklin House and the National Youth Music Theatre, and Trustee of the Heinz Koeppler Trust. She serves on the Advisory Boards of Leeds University and George Washington University Business Schools and Hudson Institute's Center for Global Prosperity.

She was an Executive Director of Drexel Burnham Lambert, a Non-executive Director of Tate & Lyle Plc and the Ladies European Golf Tour, and the first woman to chair the Board of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

Her title as "The Honorable" derives from her appointment by President George H W Bush and confirmation by the US Senate as Assistant Secretary of Commerce of the United States in 1992.