Denise Kingsmill is Chair of the Design Commission.  Her career has encompassed periods as a leading lawyer, Deputy Chair of the Competition Commission and as a non-executive director of public companies private, charitable, arts and government boards. After an early career in the textile and fashion industry Baroness Kingsmill became one of London’s leading lawyers specializing in Employment and Equality Law and handled disputes for some of the UK’s leading FTSE companies. She was Deputy Chair to the Competition Commission, where she pioneered the introduction of public hearings for the first time, and chaired more than 20 major investigations into monopolies in diverse fields.