Mike was appointed a director on 14 March 2017 and chairman from 1 May 2017. He is chairman of the Nomination and Governance Committee. He has over 40 years’ experience of the financial services industry. He was previously chairman of Resolution Limited, the FTSE 100 UK life assurance business, and has acted as both chief executive officer and group finance director of Resolution plc. Prior to that he was group finance director of Aviva plc. Mike is also chairman of Direct Line Insurance Group plc.

Preben was appointed to the board as chief executive in April 2009 when he joined Close Brothers. Preben previously spent his career in a number of senior positions at JP Morgan over 23 years, as well as being chief executive of Wellington Underwriting plc from 2004 to 2006, and then chief investment officer and a member of the group executive committee at Catlin Group Limited. Preben is also a non-executive director of The British Land Company PLC.

Elizabeth was appointed a director in August 2012 with responsibility for legal and regulatory affairs. Elizabeth joined Close Brothers as general counsel in September 2009. She was previously with Lehman Brothers and General Electric’s financial services businesses and prior to that she was a partner at the law firm Richards Butler (now Reed Smith).

Jonathan was appointed to the board as group finance director in February 2008 when he joined Close Brothers. Jonathan was previously group finance director of London Stock Exchange Group plc from 1999 to 2008. Prior to that he was at Price Waterhouse where he qualified as a chartered accountant. He is also a non-executive director of The Sage Group plc, where he is chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Geoffrey was appointed a director in January 2011 and is senior independent director. Geoffrey is chairman of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc. He was previously chairman of Railtrack plc and of Nationwide Building Society, a non-executive director of Investec plc and of JP Morgan Overseas Investment Trust plc, a director of Robert Fleming Holdings Limited and managing partner of Clifford Chance.

Bridget was appointed a director in November 2013 and is chairman of the Remuneration Committee. Bridget is chairman of First Eagle Holdings LLC and a senior advisor to First Eagle Investment Management LLC, of which she was president and chief executive officer until March 2016. She is also a non-executive director of Jupiter Fund Management plc and Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, and chairman of Cambridge Associates LLC. Bridget was previously a trustee of the TIAA-CREF funds and a non-executive director of Prudential plc, Scottish & Newcastle plc, J Sainsbury plc, Hillsdown Holdings plc and the Federal National Mortgage Association in the US.

Lesley was appointed a director in December 2013 and is chairman of the Risk Committee. Lesley has extensive banking experience, having previously held several line management positions within Citigroup and was group chief credit officer of Royal Bank of Scotland plc from 2008 to 2014. Lesley is also a non-executive director of Northern Bank Limited and N Brown Group plc.

Oliver was appointed a director in June 2014 and is chairman of the Audit Committee. Oliver is chief financial officer of Hyperion Insurance Group Limited and was formerly finance director of LCH, Clearnet Group Limited and of Novae Group plc. He is a chartered accountant and previously worked for KPMG, SG Warburg, Phoenix Securities (later Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette) and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he was managing director of investment banking. Oliver was also a non-executive director of Rathbone Brothers plc.