British Rowing appoints Diana Hunter as new Chair
British Rowing is delighted to announce the appointment of Diana Hunter as its new Chair subject to contract, following an open and competitive recruitment process
Diana brings a wealth of leadership experience across elite sport, governance, and聽 commercial enterprise. She currently serves as Chair of Pentathlon GB and as a Non Executive Director of the British Judo Association, roles from which she will step down in a聽 managed transition in order to take up the Chair position at British Rowing.
The appointment was made by the Board of British Rowing, in accordance with the聽 organisation鈥檚 Articles of Association, following a publicly advertised process supported by聽 executive search specialists Nurole. The process attracted 32 applicants, with a longlist of 12聽 candidates from which six were invited to first-round interviews. The process was led by聽 Senior Independent Director Karena Vleck.
Second-round interviews were conducted by Karena alongside member-nominated Board聽 member Seb Walker and Thames Regional Representative Peter Brett. Simon Morton,聽 Deputy CEO and Director of Events, Sporting System and External Affairs at UK Sport,聽 attended the final interviews as an active observer.
Interim Chair Peter Milhofer, said:
鈥淲e are delighted to welcome Diana to British Rowing. Her track record of transformative聽 leadership in both sport and business is exceptional. Diana鈥檚 experience in guiding聽 organisations through change, building inclusive cultures, and driving sustainable growth聽 makes her the ideal person to lead British Rowing into its next chapter.鈥
Diana Hunter is a seasoned executive and board leader with a distinguished career across聽 the retail, consumer, and sports sectors. As CEO of Conviviality plc, she led the business聽 through its successful IPO and major acquisitions, growing revenue from 拢360m to 拢1.6bn.聽 Previously, she spent nine years at Waitrose and thirteen at Sainsbury鈥檚. In governance roles,聽 she has chaired the transformation of Pentathlon GB, helped scale Wolf & Badger to over聽 拢70m GMV, and provided strategic support to high-performing leadership teams across聽 sectors.
On her appointment, Diana said:
鈥淩owing is a sport with huge potential – to inspire excellence, build community, and change聽 lives. I鈥檓 honoured to take on this role and excited to work with the Board, a strong new executive team, and the wider rowing community to help the sport grow, evolve, and thrive.聽 British Rowing has laid out an ambitious strategy for the years ahead, and I look forward to聽 helping bring that to life.鈥
Diana will formally take up the role on 1st August 2025, following a handover period with the聽 interim Chair, who will remain involved in a non-executive capacity as an independent聽 director and Chair of the Risk and Integrity Committee. The previous Chair of seven years,聽 Mark Davies, stepped down on 30th April and took up the role of interim Chief Executive聽 Officer on 1st May.
