Isabel Perea, new President of the British Chamber

The British Chamber of Commerce in Spain has elected its new Board of Governors for the next two years in a ballot open to its 267 members held between 6 and 19 March. The 15 members elected by the members voted Isabel Perea, Audit Partner at Grant Thornton, as the new President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain, succeeding Ralph Smith MBE, who has held the position since June last year.

Isabel Perea

Ms. Perea has more than 20 years of professional experience in the field of auditing. With a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Valencia and a postgraduate degree in Management Accounting, Isabel Perea joined the firm Grant Thornton in 2000, where she is currently Head of Audit in the Barcelona office. The new President of the British Chamber of Commerce combines her professional duties with teaching at various academic institutions. She has also developed an intense position in the field of executive gender diversity, being currently the chair of the Equity Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Spain (ICJCE) and of the same committee within Grant Thornton.

The new president of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain comes to the position after having served for the last four years as regional vice-president of the organisation in Barcelona. During her tenure, the organisation significantly increased its institutional relevance in Catalonia, being an active and recognised institution in many areas and fields.

New Governing Board for the next two years

In addition to the election of Perea as the new President, the 15 elected members have voted for the rest of the positions of responsibility of the organisation. Stuart Donnelly, partner of Brunswick Group, will be the new national vice-president of the British Chamber. Susana Rodriguez, Chief Commercial Officer at Savills, and Derek. A. Langley, president of Andalucía Technology Recruitment, will continue in the regional vice presidencies of Madrid and Andalucía, respectively; while Daniel Tovar, managing director of Bunzl Distribution Spain; Marta Barrilero, corporate director of Barrilero & Asociados; and Juan Gañán, head of international desk of Banco Santander, will debut in the vice presidencies of Barcelona, Basque Country and United Kingdom.

Guillermo Vidal Wagner, tax partner at Cuatrecasas, and José Manuel Amor, managing partner of economic and market analysis at Afi, continue as secretary and treasurer of the organisation. Lourdes Carmona, director of financial communications at Roman, completes the positions of responsibility as Communications member, Cristina Fontgivell, partner at Kreab in Barcelona, as Institutional Relations member, and Marta Díaz, environmental markets country manager at Redshaw Advisors, as Sustainability member.

Nick Alexander, strategic account director at Hays; Miriem Diouri, managing partner at MDG Advisors; and Paul Rhodes, sales director at BT, complete the Chamber’s Board of Governors.