a different bank for people who want a different world
our people
trustees
George Blunden – Chairman
George took early retirement at the end of 2009 from the investment management firm AllianceBernstein, where he was an integral part of the team that built AllianceBernstein in Europe from a small firm in 1998 into a leading investment management firm. His full time career has ranged from adventure playgrounds to investment banking and fund management. In addition he has always been involved in charitable activities – former Chair of Southern Housing Group, at present he is Chair of Raglan Housing Association.
Gordon Beesley – Trustee
Gordon is a former Managing Director of Unity Trust Bank. He began his career in the ethical banking sector in 1960 with the Co-operative Bank, where he held a number of positions, including Treasurer of the London City Office.
Andrew Davies – Trustee
Andrew is a former Finance Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government and the Assembly Member for Swansea West. He has a strong grounding in the Welsh economy having been the Economic Development & Transport Minister for five years and has been actively involved in Welsh affairs since the 1980s. Andrew led the Ford Motor Company’s ground-breaking Employee Development and Assistance Programme (EDAP) in south Wales in the 1990s and served as the associate director of a public affairs company before being elected to the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.
Alan Graham MBE – Audit Committee Chairman
Alan Graham. Following a 38 year career in the City with Rothschild bank, Alan retired as a main Board director in 2004 and now holds a portfolio of roles in the Public, Private and Voluntary sectors. He has many years of experience in managing banking businesses in the UK, North America and South East Asia, and a long and active involvement in the charity sector. He has developed considerable expertise in Financial Regulation, Corporate Governance, Risk and Crisis Management and Strategic Planning in all three sectors. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Motor Neurone Disease Association, a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committees of the Serious Fraud Office and the National Fraud Authority, a Governor and member of the Audit Committee of the University of Hertfordshire, an Independent Member of the Standards Committee of the City of London Corporation and holds various other charity Trustee roles and company Non-Executive Directorships. Alan was made an MBE in the 2011 Queen’s birthday honours in recognition of his services to the voluntary sector.
Sara Llewellin – Trustee
Sara Llewellin is the new Chief Executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust, a social justice foundation working in the field of public policy and justice issues. She is also on the Governing Council of the European Foundation Centre, the membership body of European Foundations. Sara’s roots are in social activism; she has had a third sector career spanning 30 years including extensive work in the domestic violence movement, homelessness sector and community provision for children and families.
John Low CBE – Trustee
John Low is Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Prior to joining CAF John was Chief Executive at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) the national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people. John is also an Independent Member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission and a Director of the Euclid Network of European Third Sector Leaders. John moved to the voluntary sector after pursuing a 20 year career in the technology industry. He holds a PhD in Bio-Medical Physics, is a Chartered Engineer, a Companion of the Institute of Management and a fellow of the RSA. John was awarded a CBE for services to the voluntary sector and to deaf people in 2008 and recently stood down as Chair of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO).
Martin Mosley – Trustee
After a long and varied career within the Barclays Group, where he was responsible latterly as Consumer and Community Affairs Director for developing its CSR agenda, Martin has built a small portfolio of charity roles. These include working with Citizens Advice, where he is a Co-opted Trustee. He was initially involved with Charity Bank through the Credit Committee prior to becoming a Trustee in 2008.
Andrew Munro – Trustee
Mary Phibbs – Trustee
Mary Phibbs was appointed Non Executive Director of Northern Rock plc in January 2010. She brings more than 30 years of banking and finance experience to Charity Bank. She is currently chief risk officer of Allied Irish Banks on an interim basis and has previously worked in a broad range of senior management positions across Australia, Asia Pacific and the UK at organisations including Standard Chartered Bank, ANZ Banking Group, and KPMG Assurance and Advisory, National Australia Bank, Bankers Trust Australia and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Ms Phibbs is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Surrey University. She holds dual British and Australian citizenship.
Julie Saunders – Trustee
Julie Saunders trained as an economist with the London School of Economics and Cambridge University. She has an MBA from INSEAD and is a qualified accountant. In June 2009, Julie became Director of Pepal, a new social enterprise, launched by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance where she had previously been a Director of Finance and Resources. Her mission was to achieve social change through fostering innovative partnerships between the corporate sector, academic institutions and non-profit organisations in developing countries.
Chris Vermont – Trustee
Chris Vermont is Head of Debt Capital Markets at Frontier Markets Fund Managers. He is responsible for GuarantCo, a $400m fund sponsored by the governments of Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland & UK which tackles poverty in poorer Asian and African countries by improving infrastructure. It does this by providing guarantees to help local lenders offer affordable finance to infrastructure projects. Chris previously held various senior positions with ANZ Banking Group in London (as well as assignments in Kolkata and New Delhi). He has over 20 years experience of finance for projects in the emerging markets. Before becoming a Trustee, Chris served as a credit committee member of Charity Bank from 2008.