Carolyn Julia McCall OBE, is the current Chief Executive of easyJet.
Born in Bangalore, India, the only child of British expatriate parents, she was educated in India and Singapore until her teens, then at a Roman Catholic girls' boarding school in Derbyshire. She studied for a BA degree in history and politics at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where she met her husband Peter.
On graduation she began training as a teacher, completing a year at Holland Park School. She then gained a Master’s degree in politics from the University of London, and on graduation joined construction group Costain. Offered a job on Kevin Kelly's Business magazine, she then applied to be a research planner at The Guardian, where she started in 1986.
Moving to advertising sales, she was mentored by Caroline Marland. Rising through the Guardian Media Group behind Marand, Management Today magazine called her "One of the toughest operators to have risen through The Guardian Media Group's ranks." After rising to become CEO of Guardian Newspapers Ltd, she became CEO of GMG. During her tenure she sold the Manchester and regionally based business to Trinity Mirror, and a 49.9% of Trader Media Group to Apax Partners, in a deal that valued the business at £1.35bn.
