Sir Victor Blank

Sir Victor Blank

Sir Victor is a leading businessman and philanthropist. He has been Chairman of a number of major companies, latterly of Lloyds Banking Group.

Today Sir Victor has a number of advisory and philanthropic roles. He chairs the Development Board of The British Academy, chairs the Strategy & Development Committee of F W de Klerk’s Global Leadership Foundation and chairs the European Advisory Board of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. He recently retired as Chairman of the Social Mobility Foundation after 4 years. He is Chairman of the Charity Wellbeing of Women, the leading early stage funder of women’s health in the UK, Chairman of Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe, Vice President of the Jewish Leadership Council and Honorary President of the Union of Jewish Students. He is also a Member of the Advisory Board of the FinTech business, Numbrs.

Sir Victor began his career as a Solicitor, becoming a Partner in Clifford-Turner (now Clifford Chance). He then chaired an investment banking business, Charterhouse; Trinity Mirror, the UK’s largest quoted newspaper publishing group; GUS plc which owned Experian, Burberry, Argos, Homebase and Lewis’ Stores of South Africa; and latterly Lloyds Banking Group which under his Chairmanship became the largest UK retail banking group.

Over the years, Sir Victor has been a member of the Financial Reporting Council, Chairman of the Industrial Development Advisory Board, the first external member of the Council of Oxford University and, for four years, a British Business Ambassador. He was knighted for services to the Finance Industry in the New Year’s Honours List in 1999.