Dame Ila Dianne Thompson DBE was Chief Executive Officer of Camelot Group until October 2014. Thompson joined Camelot in 1997 and was appointed CEO in 2000. In April 2014 it was announced that Thompson would step down from the position from 31 October. In 2014, Thompson was among candidates considered to succeed Chris Patten as Chair of the BBC Trust, but in August, it was announced that the position would be given to Rona Fairhead, a former Chair of Financial Times Group.