Sir James Leigh-Pemberton

Sir James Leigh-Pemberton is non-executive Chairman having joined the Board of the Company as a non-executive Director in April 2019. He is Chairman of the Nominations Committee and a member of the Conflicts, Remuneration and Valuation Committees. He previously served as an independent non-executive Director of the Company from 2004 to 2013.

Sir James joined UK Financial Investments (UKFI) in October 2013 as Chief Executive and in January 2014 was appointed Executive Chairman. On 1 April 2016 he became Non-Executive Chairman of UKFI. Following the merger of UKFI and UK Government Investments (UKGI), he became Deputy Chairman of UKGI, a position he held until September 2022.

Before joining UKFI, Sir James was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse in the UK, based in London. In this role, he was responsible for developing the Bank’s client relationships in Private Banking, Investment Banking and Asset Management in the UK. He was also a member of the Credit Suisse Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Operating Committee. He joined Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) in 1994. Prior to joining CSFB, he was a Director of SG Warburg Securities, where he worked for 15 years.

In the 2019 New Year Honours List, Sir James received a knighthood for services to financial services, British industry and government.