James Smith was appointed Chairman of Shell UK in 2004. He has been with Shell since 1983 and has worked in all the Group’s major businesses.

He was previously on the board of Shell Chemicals and chaired Shell’s CRI catalyst business during a period of restructuring for profitability. He has been head of resourcing, which involved ensuring there is a talented and diverse group of leaders for the top 200 jobs in Shell. Much of his early career was in upstream oil and gas production. He lived for 4 1/2 years in Malaysia and Brunei and has been involved in Shell business in a number of Middle Eastern countries and in the US.

James is President Elect of the Energy Institute and chairs the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership. He is on the boards of Opportunity Now and Race for Opportunity, the employer groups supporting gender and racial diversity in the workplace. He has been a Trustee of the Windsor Leadership Trust since May 2005. James was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2009.

James has a degree in physics and is a chartered accountant. Before joining Shell he worked with Accenture. He is married with one son. His hobbies include tennis, golf, skiing, hillwalking and the garden.