Dalton Philips joins Social Innovation Fund board as director

Dalton Philips, the former chief executive of Morrisons, has joined the board of the Government-backed Social Innovation Fund as a director.

Mr Philips, who began his retail career with Jardine Matheson, later joined the Weston family as chief executive of Brown Thomas before becoming chief operating officer for the group's Canadian business, Loblaw Companies Ltd.

Between 2010 and 2015, he led the supermarket chain Morrisons in the UK.

Mr Philips is a senior advisor with the Boston Consulting Group and was recently announced as a non-executive director of One51.

Originally from Wicklow, the retail executive holds a BA (Hons) from University College Dublin, an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Honorary Doctorate of Management from Bradford University.

"I am delighted that Dalton has joined the board of Social Innovation Fund Ireland. We have no doubt that his strategic focus will benefit the organisation. We are confident that his experience and insight will assist the board in mapping the future growth of Social Innovation Fund Ireland," said chairman Terence O'Rourke.

Other board members of the fund include John Higgins, Caitriona Fottrell, Gareth Morgan, Shane Deasy and Rosheen McGuckian.

The organisation, which was established earlier this year, is looking to raise matching funding of €5 million from private philanthropy in order to create a growth capital fund of at least €10 million for social innovations.