advisory board

Lord Mervyn Davies CBE

Chair of the Advisory Board

Lord Davies CBE is a partner and the chairman of Corsair Capital. He is chairman of LetterOne, the Lawn Tennis Association, the UK India Business Council and the Royal Academy of Arts Development Trust. He was minister of trade, investment, small business and infrastructure from January 2009 until May 2010. Prior to that, he was chairman and previously CEO of Standard Chartered for over 12 years.

Oliver Pawle

Oliver is the London-based chairman of Korn Ferry’s Board Services Practice, focusing on chairman, non-executive and executive board appointments, succession management and leadership development. Prior to his current position, he was a vice chairman of UBS for 10 years. Oliver began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, moving into corporate finance with Barings in London and New York.

Dr Carl Schramm

Carl is an American economist, entrepreneur and former president of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He has founded or co-founded a number of companies, including HCIA and Greenspring Advisors. Carl is currently a professor at Syracuse University and author of ‘Burn the business plan: What great entrepreneurs really do’.

Cyrus Jilla

Cyrus is a partner at Waypoint Capital the entrepreneurial private investment firm backed by the Bertarelli family. As part of his Waypoint role he is CEO of Northill Capital, a multi-boutique asset management firm. He is also an adviser to COFRA A.G., the holding company of the Brenninkmeijer Family. Cyrus was previously a President of Fidelity International Limited (FIL), an Executive Board member of De Beers and CEO of Element Six Group, as well as Managing Partner (UK) of Bain & Company. He began his career at Schroders plc and studied medicine at the University of London.

Charlotte Appleyard

Charlotte is director of development at the Royal Academy of Arts. She previously worked at Outset Contemporary Art Fund, and in the curatorial departments at The National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 2012 she published “Corporate Art Collections: A Handbook” a history and survey of corporate collections.

Judy Marsden

Judy is director of philanthropy at CVC Capital Partners and oversees their global philanthropic giving. Judy is also an executive director of Private Equity Research Ltd and former director of Electra Partners Europe.

Kanya King CBE

Kanya is the founder and CEO of the MOBO Awards. Since 1996, the MOBO Awards have recognised and honoured the artistic and technical achievements of exceptional British and international talent in the musical fields of Hip Hop, Grime, RnB/Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Gospel, and African music. In 2018 Kanya was honoured with a CBE for services to Music, Culture and Entrepreneurship.

Luke Johnson

Luke Johnson is a British entrepreneur. He is a former chairman of the Pizza Express chain, the Royal Society of Arts and Channel 4. He has written weekly columns for The Sunday Times and the Financial Times for over 14 years. Luke is the founder of The Centre for Entrepreneurs think tank.

Oli Barrett MBE

Oli Barrett founded schools enterprise challenge Tenner. He also co-founded children’s literacy campaign TOTS (Turn on the Subtitles), StartUp Britain, WebMission, and social enterprise Volunteer It Yourself (VIY). He is the host of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards and The Lens podcast with Business in the Community, and runs The Connector Unit which connects people and organisations around the world to make a difference.

Robert Leitão

Robert is Managing Partner of Rothschild & Co Gestion, and Co-Chairman of the Rothschild & Co Group Executive Committee. He is also Head of Rothschild & Co’s Global Advisory business, worldwide, and Chief Executive of NM Rothschild & Sons. Prior to joining Rothschild & Co in 1998, Robert was a Director and Head of UK M&A at Morgan Grenfell & Co. Limited.

Sam Smith

Sam is founder and chief executive of FinnCap, the largest broker for companies listed on AIM and a top five broker for the London Stock Exchange. She remains the only female CEO of a City broking firm.

Stephen Welton

Stephen is the founder CEO of the Business Growth Fund (BGF). In 2013, Stephen was appointed an advisor to the UK Government regarding the establishment of the British Business Bank and in 2017, served as a member of the Industry Panel advising HM Treasury on the Patient Capital Review. In 2018, Stephen was appointed a member of the first Council of Innovate UK. Stephen has served as an independent director on a broad range of companies, both in the UK and internationally.

Vin Murria OBE

Vin Murria is the founder of Advanced Computer Software, where she served as chief executive officer until it was acquired by Vista in 2015. Vin has more than 25 years of venture capital, private equity, M&A and CEO/operational experience in the software sector. Vin is currently a non-executive director for Softcat and for Zoopla Property Group, and she is a partner at Elderstreet Investments.