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Sponsor department
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HM Treasury
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National Wealth Fund
15 July 2025
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-incoming-ceo-of-the-national-wealth-fundThe Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced the appointment of Oliver Holbourn as the new Chief Executive Officer of the National Wealth Fund, to lead it through its next chapter. Oliver brings more than 25 years of experience across banking, strategy, and public financial investments including CEO roles at RBS International and, formerly, UK Financial Investments.
The National Wealth Fund is the government’s principal investor and policy bank. It is at the forefront of investing public money and mobilising private capital to help deliver on the government’s growth and clean energy missions.
Since its launch in October 2024, the National Wealth Fund has committed £2.5 billion, supporting 10,700 jobs. It also has expanded firepower, with £5.8 billion of additional capital to deploy. The NWF’s economic capital limit has been increased allowing it to take on greater risk, providing greater flexibility over its investments to support more projects to access private finance.
The Chancellor recently set this government’s Strategic Priorities for the National Wealth Fund over this Parliament. Under Oliver Holbourn’s leadership, the National Wealth Fund will enter a new phase of delivering these priorities: significantly increasing the amount of capital it deploys; expanding into new sectors; and trialling Strategic Partnerships with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to develop richer pipelines for regional investment.
This appointment followed a fair and open recruitment process, and he is expected to take up his post on 1 November.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:
I would like to congratulate Oliver on his appointment as CEO of the National Wealth Fund.
Oliver brings a wealth of private sector expertise and public service experience to this critical role. His expertise will be instrumental in delivering the government’s growth and clean energy missions.
I would like to thank John Flint for his leadership in successfully transforming the UK Infrastructure Bank into the National Wealth Fund and for laying a strong foundation for its future growth.
Incoming CEO of the National Wealth Fund, Oliver Holbourn said:
The National Wealth Fund has an important role to play in the economic success of the UK; so I am deeply honoured to be taking the reins as Chief Executive at such a pivotal time.
I am excited to get to work – using the NWF’s expertise and resources to partner with businesses, investors, mayoral combined and local authorities, and ministers and stakeholders to mobilise private investment alongside public sector finance. This will help drive sustainable economic growth across the UK and support the clean energy transition.
Chair of the National Wealth Fund, Chris Grigg said:
Oliver is the ideal person to lead the Fund into our next phase. He is passionately committed to our mission, brings a rare combination of senior leadership across both the public and private sectors, and has a background in banking, which is at the heart of what we do.
I look forward to working with Oliver to realise the full potential of our expanded mandate, delivering the Government’s ambitions for growth and clean energy, underpinned by the new Industrial Strategy.
Biography
Oliver Holbourn was until very recently the CEO of RBS International Holdings, a subsidiary of the NatWest Group, where he was on the Group Executive Committee for over four years.
With over 25 years of experience across investment banking, government investments, and strategic leadership. Oliver brings deep expertise in managing capital to deliver public value having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), where he was responsible for managing the government’s shareholdings in RBS, Lloyds and UK Asset Resolution, overseeing complex, high-value shareholdings on behalf of the UK taxpayer.
Earlier in his career, Oliver spent over a decade at Bank of America, latterly as Managing Director of Equity Capital Markets for the UK, Ireland, and South Africa. His career has been defined by a strong track record in financial leadership, capital markets, and public sector engagement.
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Sponsor department
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Department for Energy Security & Net Zero
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Salix Finance Ltd
10 July 2025
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Claire Davies to the Salix Finance Board of Directors.Claire is the founder and Managing Director of CoSecutive Ltd, an independent governance consultancy based in the UK. She is a qualified solicitor and chartered company secretary with over 30 years’ experience in legal, compliance and company secretarial roles, principally in Banking and Financial Services.
Claire has extensive experience of working on governance matters with boards, often during challenging times e.g. due to crisis, restructuring or organisational transformation.
Claire was previously a non-executive at HM Government’s Dept of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) where she was a member of the Audit & Risk Committee. She is a member of a number of corporate governance groups including the All-Party Corporate Governance Group and a regular speaker at events. She previously served as a member of the FRC’s Stakeholder Panel and was a member of the Sounding Board to the Wates Corporate Governance.
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Sponsor department
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Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office
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Great Britain-China Centre
5 July 2025
Great Britain-China Centre appoints Isabel Hilton as new Chair
The Great Britain-China Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of Isabel Hilton as its new Chair. Isabel will be responsible for guiding the strategic direction of the GBCC supporting HMG priorities, enhancing its mission to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the two nations, and building the UK government and wider expertise on China.
The GBCC is an arms-length body of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office established in 1974 to support UK-China relations.
Isabel brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role, previously founding the China Dialogue, a bilingual non-profit organisation that focused on climate change and environmental issues in China and abroad. With a distinguished career in broadcast journalism and writing, Isabel has demonstrated an exceptional understanding of China that will be valuable when fostering strong bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and China.
Catherine West, Minister for the Indo-Pacific said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Isabel as the new Chair of the Great Britain-China Centre. Her extensive expertise on China will be invaluable to GBCC’s work supporting confident, careful and pragmatic engagement with China across a broad range of areas. This government puts great value on the impact that the GBCC has on developing China capability within the Civil Service and facilitating dialogues between UK and Chinese officials. I’d also like to extend my gratitude to the out-going chair Sir Martin, who has led the Centre admirably with clear and strategic direction over the last decade.”
The Board of the Great Britain China Centre extends its gratitude to Sir Martin Davidson for his dedicated service and significant contributions during his 10-year tenure.
This is an un-remunerated role that reflects a time commitment of approximately 30 days per year.
Isabel Hilton said: “I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as Chair of the Great Britain China Centre. I have known and admired the work of the Centre for many years and I look forward to working with the talented team to further our goals and to build on the Centre’s strong foundations. I am especially grateful to my predecessor in this role, Sir Martin Davidson, for his leadership and exemplary stewardship.”