A former anti-apartheid demonstrator who was once arrested in South Africa,[3] after a short private sector career[2] working for Anchor housing association (1973–75),[1] she then became a researcher for Glasgow Chamber of Commerce (1975–80),[citation needed] before becoming its chair (1980–82).
[1] Hutton was a non-executive Director of the Scottish Borders Health Board and a member of The King's Fund Organizational Audit Council.
She was a member of the Wilson Committee on Complaints in the National Health Service, and of the General Dental Council.
[1] During 2008, she was on the three-member panel that conducted an independent review of the postal services on behalf of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Appointed to the board of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a non-executive director in April 2009,[10] Hutton was appointed chair in 2009 by Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon,[3] replacing Sir Roy McNulty;[11] she was paid £130,000 for two days' work a week in 2010,[12] which was still the case as of 2015, making her one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.