non-execn.adj.

1976 Economist 7 Feb. 73/2 The board included a real banker,..who cannot claim ignorance of the business—which is what many non-execs do claim when trouble comes.

1994 Independent on Sunday 5 June (Business section) 2/3 In an ideal world, the non-executive directors or the institutional shareholders would do this job. In reality, the non-execs sometimes turn a blind eye.

2001 Independent 15 Jan. (Media Plus section) 5/7 To the obvious qualities that non-execs require, I would add a quality less often mentioned—not to mind asking questions that may turn out to be ill-informed, naive or plain silly.

1980 PR Newswire (Nexis) 10 Dec. Directorships: N. M. Rothschild & Sons Limited (non-exec) Northern Foods (non-exec).

1989 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 4 Jan. 23 Gibb, 62, remains president..but is at the stage of life when a gentleman gathers his non-exec sinecures about him.

2001 Guardian (Electronic ed.) 14 Dec. Mr Leighton has gone multitudinous, with eleven non-exec directorships ranging from housebuilder Wilson Connolly to BSkyB.