Sir Brendan Barber—Acas

Sir Brendan Barber has been announced as the new chair of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) Council. Sir Brendan was the TUC general secretary from 2003 to 2012 and received a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours earlier this year for services to employment relations. He will start in the New Year and serve a three year term.

Acas chief executive Anne Sharp says: “I am delighted that Sir Brendan will join Acas as our new chair. His wealth of experience in employment relations with both employees and employers will be invaluable in our role as independent, impartial and trusted employment relations experts.”

Sir Brendan says: “I am very pleased to be taking on this role. Acas has played a crucial role over many years promoting best practice in employment relations and helping to resolve countless seemingly intractable workplace disputes.”