Doug Gurr
Douglas John Gurr | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth year and age Leeds, England |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, business executive |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Known for | Former global vice-president and UK country manager at Amazon; Chair of the British Heart Foundation; Director at the Natural History Museum, London; Interim Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority |
Douglas John Gurr (born July 1964) is a British entrepreneur currently serving as a Director at the Natural History Museum, London. In January 2025, he assumed the role of interim Chair for the Competition and Markets Authority. Between 2016 and 2020, Gurr held the position of global vice-president and led Amazon UK. His previous leadership includes chairing the British Heart Foundation and holding various positions at Aarhus University, the UK Civil Service, McKinsey & Co, and Asda.
Early life and education
Born in Leeds, England, in July 1964 to parents from New Zealand, Gurr's father was head of the English department at the University of Nairobi. He attended Theale Green School before pursuing the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge. In 1990, he completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh, focusing on semantic frameworks through monads, under the supervision of Gordon Plotkin.
Career
Gurr started his professional journey as a mathematics and computing lecturer at Aarhus University in Denmark prior to joining the UK's Civil Service. He then spent six years at McKinsey & Co, reaching partner status. He founded Blueheath, an internet-based wholesaler that was subsequently acquired by Booker Group. Following this, he joined the main board at Asda before moving to Amazon in 2011. He served as China country manager from 2014 until 2016, after which he became UK country manager.
Since 2015, Gurr has been chairing the British Heart Foundation and acted as a non-executive director for the UK government's Department for Work and Pensions. Additionally, he is a trustee of the Landmark Trust. In July 2018, he publicly cautioned that a no-deal Brexit might lead to civil disorder within a fortnight.
In 2020, Gurr was appointed as a director of the Natural History Museum, London. By 2021, he also took on a non-executive directorship at the Department of Health and Social Care, with responsibilities concerning union matters. Starting July 2022, he chairs the board of trustees for The Alan Turing Institute, which is the UK's premier national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.
In January 2025, he was designated interim Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority.
Personal life
Gurr lives between London and Yorkshire with his spouse and two children. He is a former Scottish international triathlete and enjoys ski mountaineering as a passionate hobby.