Andrew Witty appointed Lead Non-Executive Board Member for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)

Issued: London, UK

The UK Government today announced that Andrew Witty has been appointed as the Lead Non-Executive Board Member for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. This appointment forms part of a wider announcement by the Government to create Boards for each Department, including representation from the commercial private sector.

These Departmental Boards will offer strategic and operational advice to Government Departments as they implement their business plans and objectives. Policy will continue to be decided by Ministers with advice from Civil Servants.

Commenting on his appointment, Andrew said: “BIS has a key leadership role in Government in stimulating private sector growth and improving the competitiveness of the UK economy. In these challenging economic times, I think it’s important that the private sector steps up and plays its role in society. I look forward to playing my role in providing advice and support to the Permanent Secretary and Secretary of State as they take their plans forward.”

Andrew has declined to be paid for this part-time role and will take up his position from 1 January 2011. The BIS Departmental Board will meet formally approximately every 8 weeks. To avoid any potential for conflict of interest, Andrew will not see papers or be involved in discussions relating to pharmaceutical issues.

Andrew’s decision to accept this appointment reflects GSK’s policy of contributing to and actively engaging in dialogue with whichever Government is in power on issues that affect the business environment in which the company operates. For example, Andrew served on former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Business Council when the Labour Party was in Government. He also serves on Prime Minister David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group alongside other senior business figures.

GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements Under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that may affect GSK' s operations are described