Who we are

Baroness Bloomfield 

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 Chandra

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&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.

Sir Douglas Flint

Douglas retired as Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc in September 2017, having served on the Board for 22 years, including fifteen years as HSBC’s Group Finance Director.  Between 2005 and 2011 he was also a Non-Executive Director of BP plc. 

In December 2017 he was appointed by the Chancellor as Special Envoy to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. 

In June 2006 Mr Flint was honoured with a CBE and in June 2018 was awarded a Knighthood, both awards in recognition of his services to the finance industry.

Anya Hindmarch CBE

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

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.

Dame Cally Palmer

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

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.

Brenda Trenowden CBE

Brenda is Global co-chair of the 30% Club and a Partner in PwC UK within the people consulting practice. Brenda has a particular focus on helping her clients to achieve better business performance by improving both the diversity and inclusiveness of their workforces. She is a strong advocate for women’s economic empowerment and is an advisor to the UK Government’s Hampton-Alexander Review for increasing the representation of women in the executive level of the FTSE 350 and a companion of the Chartered Management Institute. Brenda has more than 25 years of experience in capital markets, investment and relationship banking, with sector expertise in financial institutions. In 2018 Brenda was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to the financial sector and gender equality.

Dr Nicholas van As

Dr Nicholas van As is Medical Director of The Royal Marsden. He has been a Consultant Clinical Oncologist in the Urology Unit in the hospital since September 2004, and has also recently been appointed Associate Honorary Faculty and Team Leader at The Institute of Cancer Research.

Dr van As qualified in medicine in South Africa, and completed specialist training in clinical oncology at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, The Royal Marsden, and The Institute of Cancer Research.