Background
Clifton was born in High Wycombe. Her father died when she was 12.
Clifton was born in High Wycombe. Her father died when she was 12.
She attended the Wycombe High School, a girls" grammar school in High Wycombe, alma mater of Fifty Shades of Grey author East. L. James, who was five years below her. She went to the all-female Newnham College, Cambridge where she studied Classics, graduating in 1979.
Clifton has been called "The doyenne of branding" by Campaign Magazine, "Brand guru" by the Financial Times, and the Daily Telegraph described her as "The brand leading the brands". Her childhood ambition was to be a ballet dancer. From 1983-1986 she worked for J. Walter Thompson. From 1986-1997 Clifton worked for Saatchi & Saatchi in a variety of roles, including acting as Vice Chairman from 1995-1997.
She joined Interbrand United Kingdom as Chief Executive in 1997, becoming Chairman in 2002.
She is Chairman of Populus Limited, President of the Market Research Society. and holds a number of non-executive directorships at companies such as Bupa, Nationwide Building Society, and ASOS.com. Clifton previously served as a non-executive director of Dixons Retail from 2002-2012.
Quotations: "I felt obliged to pretend that it had had absolutely no impact whatsoever,".