Sir Nicholas Macpherson, KCB

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 (born 1959) is a senior British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 civil servant

British Civil Service

Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government - the government of the United Kingdom, composed of a Cabinet of ministers chosen by the prime minister, as well as the devolved...

, serving as the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury

The Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at HM Treasury. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as a Permanent Secretaryship....

 since 2 August 2005. He succeeded Sir Gus O'Donnell

Gus O'Donnell

Sir Augustine Thomas "Gus" O'Donnell GCB is a British civil servant, who is the current Cabinet Secretary, the highest rank in the British Civil Service. He is consequently, under current practice, Head of the Civil Service, which means he has authority over all civil servants except those who are...

 upon the latter's promotion to Cabinet Secretary.

From 2004 to 2005 Macpherson managed the Budget and Public Finance Directorate, where he was responsible for tax policy and the budget process. Prior to that, he was head of the Public Services Directorate (2001 to 2004), where he managed the 2000 and 2002 spending review processes. Previous Treasury posts included Director of Welfare Reform (1998 to 2001) and Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...

 (1993 to 1997), where he oversaw the transition from Kenneth Clarke

Kenneth Clarke

Kenneth Harry "Ken" Clarke, QC, MP is a British Conservative politician, currently Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He was first elected to Parliament in 1970; and appointed a minister in Edward Heath's government, in 1972, and is one of...

 to Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

 as Chancellor.

Macpherson joined the civil service in 1985 after working as an economist at the CBI and Peat Marwick Consulting. He was educated at Eton College

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

, Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

 and University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

.

Macpherson was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2009 New Year Honours.