Robert Swannell CBE

Robert Swannell is Chairman of UK Government Investments, which is the centre of excellence for corporate finance and corporate governance in HMG; this includes executing the sale of non-strategic assets and undertaking the shareholder role in relation to a number of the largest companies controlled by HMG, from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, British Business Bank to the Post Office and many others.

Robert is also Chairman of Royal SpringBoard, an educational charity, and the LP Advisory Committee of Ahren, an investment company based on deep, transformational science at Cambridge University. He is also a Director of the Investor Forum, a Trustee of Historic Royal Palaces, a member of the Advisory Board of Spencer Stuart and a member of The Takeover Panel Appeal Board.

Robert was previously Chairman of Marks & Spencer (2010-2017), senior independent director of The British Land Company PLC (1999 -2010) and of 3i Group PLC (2006-2010) and Chairman of HMV (2009-2011). He was also Chairman and a member of the Governing Body of Rugby School (2004-2014), a Trustee of Career Ready (2003-2012) , a Trustee of the Kew Foundation (2011-2017), a Trustee of Teach First (2015-2019) , a member of the Advisory Board of The Sutton Trust (2014-17) and a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford University Said Business School(2008-2019).

Until 2010, Robert spent a career of over 30 years in investment banking with Schroders/Citigroup. He was formerly Vice-Chairman of Citi Europe and Chairman of Citi’s European Investment Bank. Robert qualified both as a chartered accountant and a barrister.