Martha Lane Fox
Encyclopedia
Martha Lane Fox is an English
businesswoman and charity trustee, who has been engaged as a public servant chairperson on various e-commerce projects and investigations. A board member of Channel 4
, mydeco.com and Marks & Spencer
, she co-founded Lastminute.com
, an icon of the dotcom boom of the early 2000s.
, Lane Fox is the daughter of Robin Lane Fox
, a historian of ancient Greece. She was educated at Oxford High School, Westminster School
and Magdalen College, Oxford
, where she read ancient and modern history
.
.
In 1998, Lane Fox and Hoberman founded Lastminute.com
, an online travel and gift business that generated great publicity, becoming an icon of the UK internet boom and floating at the peak of the dot-com bubble
. On 20 November 2003, it was announced that she would step down as managing director of Lastminute.com.
On 28 December 2003, it was revealed by The Sunday Telegraph that Lane Fox would become "right hand woman" of Galen Weston
, owner of Selfridges
, and take over the day-to-day running of the business.
In 2005, advertising executive Julian Douglas shared an idea of his with her about launching a Tokyo-esque private karaoke bar in London. Falling in love with the idea, together with Nick Thistleton she launched a private karaoke
company Lucky Voice with a club in London's Soho. The company have seven bars countrywide, an online application, and an additional product to be used with computers.
In 2007 Lane Fox joined the board of Marks & Spencer
as a non-executive director. She is also on the board of Channel 4
. In 2007 Lane Fox joined the board of interior design and furniture website mydeco.com, the new start-up venture of her lastminute.com partner Brent Hoberman.
On 16 June 2009, she was appointed the UK Government's Digital Inclusion Champion to head a two year campaign to make the British public more 'tech savvy'. She has argued that "I don't think you can be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online."
On 22 March 2010 her government role was expanded when it was announced that she would set up a new Digital Public Services Unit within the Cabinet Office.
In June 2010, the new Government asked Lane Fox to expand her role as UK Digital Champion advising how online public services delivery can help to provide better, and more efficient services as well as getting more people online. She was invited to sit on Cabinet Office's Efficiency and Reform Board. In July 2010 David Cameron hosted an event at 10 Downing Street to celebrate her Manifesto for a Networked Nation - a challenge for people and organisations in every sector and every corner of the country to work together to inspire, encourage and support as many new people as possible to get online by the end of the Olympic year. By the beginning of 2011 the Race Online 2012 campaign had over 1000 partners pledging to reach almost 2 million adults.
causes including human rights, women's rights and social justice. In 2007 she founded Antigone, a grant-making trust to support charities based in the UK.
She is a patron of Reprieve, a legal action charity, which made the news during its involvement in the release of UK resident Binyam Mohammed from Guantanamo Bay. Lane Fox is also a patron of Camfed
, dedicated to fighting poverty, HIV and AIDS in rural Africa through the education of girls and young women.
, London, with her long term partner, television producer
Chris Gorell Barnes.
In May 2004 she was severely injured in a car accident in the tourist resort of Essaouira
in Morocco
, and she was flown to England for treatment. She was discharged from hospital in December 2005 after recovering at the John Radcliffe Hospital
, Oxford
and later at Wellington Hospital
, a private hospital in London. She had skin grafts, and fractured bones were held in position with internal metal supports.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
businesswoman and charity trustee, who has been engaged as a public servant chairperson on various e-commerce projects and investigations. A board member of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, mydeco.com and Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
, she co-founded Lastminute.com
Lastminute.com
lastminute.com is an online travel and leisure retailer. The company was founded by Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman in 1998 and became an icon of the UK internet boom of the late 1990s, floating at the peak of the dot com bubble and trading on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol...
, an icon of the dotcom boom of the early 2000s.
Early life
Born in OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Lane Fox is the daughter of Robin Lane Fox
Robin Lane Fox
Robin Lane Fox is an English historian, currently a Fellow of New College, Oxford and University of Oxford Reader in Ancient History.-Life:Lane Fox was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford....
, a historian of ancient Greece. She was educated at Oxford High School, Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, where she read ancient and modern history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
.
Business career
After university she showed interest in acting and prison governorship but joined the consulting firm Spectrum, involved in IT and media companies. Her first project was for British Telecom called "What is the Internet ?", here she met fellow employee Brent HobermanBrent Hoberman
Brent Hoberman, together with Martha Lane Fox, founded Lastminute.com in 1998, an online travel and gift business that floated at the peak of the dot-com bubble and managed to survive the subsequent burst of the bubble....
.
In 1998, Lane Fox and Hoberman founded Lastminute.com
Lastminute.com
lastminute.com is an online travel and leisure retailer. The company was founded by Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman in 1998 and became an icon of the UK internet boom of the late 1990s, floating at the peak of the dot com bubble and trading on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol...
, an online travel and gift business that generated great publicity, becoming an icon of the UK internet boom and floating at the peak of the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
. On 20 November 2003, it was announced that she would step down as managing director of Lastminute.com.
On 28 December 2003, it was revealed by The Sunday Telegraph that Lane Fox would become "right hand woman" of Galen Weston
Galen Weston
Willard Gordon Galen Weston, OC, OOnt , is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the Chairman and President of George Weston Limited...
, owner of Selfridges
Selfridges
Selfridges, AKA Selfridges & Co, is a chain of high end department stores in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge. The flagship store in London's Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the UK and was opened on 15 March 1909.More recently, three other stores have been...
, and take over the day-to-day running of the business.
In 2005, advertising executive Julian Douglas shared an idea of his with her about launching a Tokyo-esque private karaoke bar in London. Falling in love with the idea, together with Nick Thistleton she launched a private karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
company Lucky Voice with a club in London's Soho. The company have seven bars countrywide, an online application, and an additional product to be used with computers.
In 2007 Lane Fox joined the board of Marks & Spencer
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...
as a non-executive director. She is also on the board of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. In 2007 Lane Fox joined the board of interior design and furniture website mydeco.com, the new start-up venture of her lastminute.com partner Brent Hoberman.
On 16 June 2009, she was appointed the UK Government's Digital Inclusion Champion to head a two year campaign to make the British public more 'tech savvy'. She has argued that "I don't think you can be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online."
On 22 March 2010 her government role was expanded when it was announced that she would set up a new Digital Public Services Unit within the Cabinet Office.
In June 2010, the new Government asked Lane Fox to expand her role as UK Digital Champion advising how online public services delivery can help to provide better, and more efficient services as well as getting more people online. She was invited to sit on Cabinet Office's Efficiency and Reform Board. In July 2010 David Cameron hosted an event at 10 Downing Street to celebrate her Manifesto for a Networked Nation - a challenge for people and organisations in every sector and every corner of the country to work together to inspire, encourage and support as many new people as possible to get online by the end of the Olympic year. By the beginning of 2011 the Race Online 2012 campaign had over 1000 partners pledging to reach almost 2 million adults.
Charity work
Lane Fox is a strong and vocal advocate of progressiveProgressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
causes including human rights, women's rights and social justice. In 2007 she founded Antigone, a grant-making trust to support charities based in the UK.
She is a patron of Reprieve, a legal action charity, which made the news during its involvement in the release of UK resident Binyam Mohammed from Guantanamo Bay. Lane Fox is also a patron of Camfed
CAMFED
Camfed - the Campaign for Female Education - is an international non-governmental, non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and the empowerment of young women...
, dedicated to fighting poverty, HIV and AIDS in rural Africa through the education of girls and young women.
Personal life
Lane Fox lives in MaryleboneMarylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
, London, with her long term partner, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
Chris Gorell Barnes.
In May 2004 she was severely injured in a car accident in the tourist resort of Essaouira
Essaouira
Mogador redirects here, for the hamlet in Surrey see Mogador, Surrey.Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore...
in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and she was flown to England for treatment. She was discharged from hospital in December 2005 after recovering at the John Radcliffe Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England.It is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. As such, it is a well-developed centre of medical research. It also incorporates the Medical School of the University of Oxford....
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and later at Wellington Hospital
Wellington Hospital, United Kingdom
The Wellington Hospital in London is the largest independent hospital in the United Kingdom, located in St John's Wood, North London.It has an international reputation for outstanding care in areas of medicine including cardiac services, neurosurgery, liver and HPB medicine, rehabilitation,...
, a private hospital in London. She had skin grafts, and fractured bones were held in position with internal metal supports.