The Yorkshireman credited with providing the design inspiration behind Burberry’s catwalk collections has been named as the world’s most influential gay business leader ahead of top executives at HSBC and WH Smith.
Christopher Bailey, who clashed recently with Burberry’s shareholders over his £20 million pay package, has topped a table of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender boardroom leaders in an annual study by OUTstanding, a networking organisation.
The Burberry chief executive, 43, who described himself as a “scrawny English boy” in a recent interview, became the first openly gay chief executive of a FTSE 100 company when he succeeded Angela Ahrendts at the fashion group in May.
“He’s unself-conscious, successful and very confident of his gay identity in public,” Suki Sandhu, the chief executive of