Luke Johnson

Chairman , Action on Addiction from January 2012

Luke Johnson became chairman of the board of Action on Addiction on 1 January 2012.

He is also chairman of StageOne, a charity in support of new producers of quality commercial theatre in the UK.

He is the chairman of Risk Capital Partners Ltd, a private equity house and the part owner and chairman of Superbrands, Giraffe Restaurants, Patisserie Valerie, Fast Track, and Baker and Spice.  

Luke is a major owner and director of the market leader in car park equipment, APT Controls; in May 2010 he became a strategic investor in Beer & Partners; in August 2010, he assumed control of Feng Sushi; in September 2010, he purchased a majority stake in the casual-dining firm, Ego Group. In May 2011, Luke became part owner of Bread Ltd, the firm behind Gail’s Artisan Bakery chain.

Between 2004 and 2010 he was chairman of Channel 4 Television and is currently a director of two theatre production partnerships, Playful Productions and Fiery Dragons.  He is also a director of AKA UK, a marketing agency to the entertainment industry. He is a non-executive director of art publisher, Phaidon Press and joined Metro Bank plc as a non-executive director in October 2011.

Luke writes a weekly column on entrepreneurship for the Financial Times and a monthly column for leading business monthly, Management Today magazine.  His latest book, Start It Up: Why Running Your Own Business Is Easier Than you Think was published in autumn 2011.

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