Roger Freeman is taking up a newly created role at Iddas, becoming non-executive chairman at the business and career mentoring firm where he has been an adviser from its start up four years ago.

The former cabinet minister and chairman of Thales said it was a natural step for the company as it raised capital from outside shareholders and needed a non-executive balance on the board as part of corporate governance. Lord Freeman, 64, a former partner and managing director of Lehman Brothers, returned to the commercial world as a partner at PwC after losing his parliamentary seat for Kettering in the Labour landslide of 1997.Ruth Sullivan