Andrew was appointed Non-Executive Director of UK Government Investments in July 2019.
Andrew spent most of his executive career in the energy industry and was previously the Chief Executive Officer of RWE Npower. Andrew was the Senior Trustee of Macmillan Cancer Support and a member of the Steering Group on the Hampton Alexander Review. He is a Fellow of the Energy Institute. Andrew was previously Chair of Severn Trent plc and Chair of Elementis plc, a FTSE 250 chemicals company. He was a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Wolseley plc (now Ferguson Plc) from 2004-2013.

Current additional appointments:

• Chair of Sage Group Plc, having been a member of the Board from 1 May 2021.

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Andy Halford was appointed Non-Executive Director in October 2023.

Andy has been Group Chief Financial Officer and Group Executive Director of Standard Chartered PLC since 1 July 2014. He has recently announced that he will retire from being Group CFO in the first quarter of 2024. Andy joined Standard Chartered from Vodafone Group PLC, where he spent 15 years including 9 years as Chief Financial Officer. Andy joined Vodafone Group PLC in 1999 as Financial Director for Vodafone Limited, and in 2001 he became Financial Director for Vodafone’s Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. In 2002, Andy was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Verizon Wireless in the US and was a Member of the Board of Representatives of the Verizon Wireless Partnership. Andy became Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone Group PLC in July 2005, a position which he held until March 2014 when he retired from the group. Prior to Vodafone, Andy was Finance Director at East Midlands Electricity PLC. Andy was, until recently, the Senior Independent Director of Marks and Spencer Group PLC and is a former Chairman of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors.

Andy holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial economics from Nottingham University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

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Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB was appointed Non-Executive Director of UK Government Investments in September 2023.

Vanessa has more than 35 years’ experience working in the digital data community and has a background in geographical information and space applications. From 2000-2014, Vanessa was Director General and CEO of Ordnance Survey. From 2011-2015, she was a founding co-chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM). Prior to joining Ordnance Survey, she held senior roles with the billion-dollar American software company, Autodesk Inc and the global media and publishing company, Pearson plc. Today, Vanessa is working internationally as a senior advisor to overseas governments, inter-governmental organisations and large private sector organisations.

Current appointments include:

• Director of Location International
• Non-Executive Director and Trustee of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and AI
• Non-Executive Director for the Satellite Applications Catapult
• Chair of the UK’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems
• Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton
• Patron of two charities – MapAction and Cure Parkinson’s

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Iain Mackay was appointed a Non-Executive Director of UK Government Investments in November 2023.

Iain spent most of his career in senior finance leadership roles and retired as CFO of GSK plc and as an executive director on the GSK Board in April 2023. Prior to joining GSK in early 2019, Iain was Group Finance Director of HSBC Holdings plc, a position he held for eight years. In his earlier career Iain undertook senior finance leadership roles for: HSBC in North America and Asia; for The General Electric Company of the US for almost 12 years in diverse areas including Consumer Finance, Healthcare and Corporate Audit and; for Schlumberger in Africa and Asia.  A chartered accountant, Iain’s formative career was with Thomson Maclintock in Aberdeen and with Price Waterhouse in New York and Paris. He holds an MA in Business Studies and Accounting and an Honorary Doctorate from Aberdeen University.

Current additional appointments:

• Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, member of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Finance Committee at National Grid plc
• Independent Member of the Court of the University of Aberdeen and Chair of its Remuneration Committee
• In early 2024 Iain will join the Board of Schroders plc as a Non-Executive Director

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Sarah joined the Board of UK Government Investments in September 2020.

Sarah became Permanent Secretary at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in February 2023 which was established after a machinery of government change.

Previously Sarah was Permanent Secretary for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) since July 2020. Sarah joined BEIS in July 2019 as Director General, Business Sectors. Before that, Sarah was a Partner at McKinsey, where she led their Strategy and Corporate Finance practice in the UK and Ireland. She began her career in the Civil Service, as an Assistant Economist in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

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Beth joined the Board of UK Government Investments in November 2022.

Beth was appointed as the Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury (HMT) in October 2022 and is based at the Darlington Economic Campus. HMT is responsible for developing and executing the government’s public finance policy and economic policy.
Beth has worked in HMT since 2000 on a range of policy roles across tax, welfare and public spending. Previous to her current role she was the Director General of Tax and Welfare in the Treasury between 2017 and 2022. Her earlier Treasury roles included Director of Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions (2013-2017), Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (2011-2013), Deputy Director of General Expenditure Policy (2008-2011), Deputy Director of Environmental and Transport Taxes (2005-07) and Speechwriter for Gordon Brown when he was Chancellor (2001-2005) and Prime Minister (2007-2008).  Beth started her career in the Department of Social Security as a policy adviser on welfare (1996-2000).

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Mahnaz was appointed Non-Executive Director of UK Government Investments in September 2022. She is also the NED responsible for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

With 30 years of experience in finance, Mahnaz has been a Senior Executive at UBS, Citi and ANZ. She led Debt Capital Markets for EMEA and headed Markets for Europe and America. Whilst at UBS and Citi, she co-chaired their respective women’s leadership Executive Committees. She has previously served as a Senior Independent Director on the Board of Alternative Credit Investments, a FTSE 250 company. Mahnaz holds a PhD in computer aided technology from Imperial College.

Current additional appointments:

• Non-Executive Director at Jefferies International Limited
• Member of the Council at Imperial College where she is the Champion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

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