Who we are

Olivia Bloomfield is the House of Lords' Spokesperson for Wales and a Government whip for three other Ministries. Her career has encompassed executive search, private equity, and energy infrastructure projects. She has been active in the voluntary sector as a magistrate and a founding trustee of three small Oxfordshire based charities. In 2006, she was asked to head up the Conservative Party’s fundraising team on behalf of David Cameron and was appointed to the House of Lords in 2016. She joined the front bench in 2019.

Varun joined Hakluyt in 2014 and serves as the company’s Managing Partner. Prior to joining Hakluyt, Varun worked in investment and merchant banking, advising on M and A, private equity investments, and business development.

Initially trained at Lehman Brothers, he went on to help build a regulated advisory firm for former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, where he was responsible for transactions typically involving sovereign wealth and emerging markets businesses. He has also co-founded a merchant bank with a private family investment company; advised a former UK foreign secretary on business and economic issues; and invested in a number of early-stage companies.

He sits on various charitable and commercial boards, including Sesame Workshop, the world’s leading early learning media platform, IP Group, Inc (an early-stage technology investment firm based in the US) and the Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation. Varun is also an Impact Director for Yaletown Partners (a venture and growth capital fund based in Canada), and a Trustee of the Royal Academy Trust.

Andrew is Chair of Rightmove plc and Chair of Epidemic Sound as well as a Non-Executive Director of Marks and Spencer Group plc.  

He was appointed CEO of Shazam in March 2005 and became Executive Chairman in 2013. During Andrew’s tenure Shazam became one of the world’s leading mobile brands with over 1 billion users.  The company was acquired by Apple in 2018.

Andrew was a member of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity’s Oak Cancer Centre Appeal Board and has been a Non-Executive Director of MoneySuperMarket Group plc and Merlin Entertainments plc as well as a member of the Council of Loughborough University. In 2016 Andrew was awarded an OBE in recognition for his services to the digital economy.

Roger Gray studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and then Economics at Harvard University before embarking on a career in investment management spanning four decades. He began in the asset management business at Rothschild Asset Management where he rose to Chief Investment Officer (CIO), before moving to UBS Asset Management (Switzerland) as CEO and CIO and then Global Head of Asset Allocation/Currency. His later career was spent as CIO for the UK’s two largest pension funds, at Hermes for the BT Pension Scheme and then for 10 years at USS Investment Management Ltd on behalf of the Universities Superannuation Scheme.  

Roger’s portfolio of charitable activities includes the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Winchester College Investment Committee and the Triago Advisory Board.

Anya Hindmarch founded her eponymous business in London in 1987 and has since grown it into a global brand. An advocate of British design and arts, Anya is also a Non-Executive Director of the British Fashion Council and an Emeritus trustee of both the Royal Academy of Arts and the Design Museum. In 2017, Anya was awarded a CBE in recognition for her contribution to the British fashion industry and has received several notable industry awards, including a British Fashion Award.

Sir Terry Leahy, was appointed Chief Executive of Tesco PLC in March 1997 and retired from this position in March 2011.

He received a Knighthood for services to food retailing in the 2002 New Year Honours and in the same year was made a Freeman of the City of Liverpool and is a member of the Liverpool Enterprise Partnership Advisory Board.

In March 2008 he was nominated by Retail Week as Retail Leader of the Year. From 2005 to 2010 he was voted as Britain’s Most Admired Leader by Management Today and in 2004 he was named European Businessman of the year by Fortune Magazine. In 2010 he received the Daily Telegraph’s Award for a Decade of Excellence in Business a Lifetime Achievement award from Director Magazine and was voted Business Person of the Year by the Sunday Times.

Terry is now a part-time senior advisor to Clayton Dubilier & Rice, the US private equity firm and holds various Chair and Executive Committee memberships.

Cally is the Chief Executive of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. In 2006 she was awarded a CBE for her contribution to healthcare.

Cally was appointed NHS National Cancer Director for NHS England in 2015, and she has advised the government on national strategy for cancer care.

Lady Helen Taylor started her art career in 1984 at Christie’s auction house in their Contemporary Department, until 1988 when she became a director of the Karsten Schubert Gallery in London.

In 1996 Helen joined Giorgio Armani as his global ambassador for twelve years and was also an ambassador for the charity CLIC Sargent. She is presently on the Advisory Board of the Glyndebourne Opera House after being a trustee there for six years.

Helen married art dealer Timothy Taylor in 1992 and they have four children.