Trustee profiles

Lawrence Churchill, CBE, Chair

Lawrence is a member of the Board of BUPA, the Board for Actuarial Standards and the Good Energy Group. He is also a Trustee of the International Longevity Centre, UK and a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute.

Previous appointments have been as Chairman of the Pension Protection Fund, Senior Independent Director at The Children's Mutual, Chief Executive of Zurich Financial Services UK and International Life, Executive Chairman of UNUM and CEO of Natwest Life and Investments.

Lawrence has also served in a non-executive capacity on the boards of the Association of British Insurers, the Employers' Forum on Disability and the Financial Ombudsman Service, and has been a Trustee of the Royal Society of Arts.

Iraj Amiri, Trustee Member

Iraj was a partner with Deloitte LLP for over 20 years. He led the National Internal Audit Group of Deloitte and was one of the firm's recognised experts in Internal Audit and Risk Management.

In the public sector, his clients included numerous organisations in central government, health, education and local government, and many public bodies, such as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, The Pensions Regulator, National Savings and Investments, and the European Investment Bank. He also has extensive private sector experience at a senior level, serving such organisations as Schroders plc and The Wellcome Trust.

As well as being an FCA, Iraj is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and was a member of the Internal Audit Task Force of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for a number of years.

Tom Boardman, Trustee Member

Tom has been involved in the pensions and insurance industry with Prudential and Nationwide for more than 35 years in a wide variety of roles. Before taking up his appointment at NEST Corporation, he was Director of Retirement Strategy and Innovation at Prudential UK.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, Honorary Visiting Professor at the Cass Business School, a Trustee of the International Longevity Centre, UK and a Governor of the Pensions Policy Institute. Tom is also a Life Insurance Senior Advisor at the Financial Services Authority.

Sharon Darcy, Trustee Member

Sharon is a qualified accountant with a very strong background in the consumer movement.

She is a non-executive director of Consumer Focus and was previously on the Board of energywatch, an organisation which both helped consumers deal with problems with their energy suppliers and campaigned on fuel poverty. She is also a non-executive director of the Hyde Group, a large housing association.  

In the past Sharon was a Consumer Director of TrustMark, an organisation which promotes reputable traders in the home maintenance and repair sector, a Non-Executive Director of Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust and the Chair of Sutton Borough Citizens Advice Bureau.

Laurie Edmans, CBE, Trustee Member

Laurie is Deputy Chairman of MGM Assurance. This is a long-established mutual that has become a specialist annuity provider. He is also chairman of SHIP, the trade association for providers of equity release products and a Non-Executive Director of the Money Advice Service.

He is on the council of the Pensions Policy Institute and is a Director of Bdifferent, a specialist financial services branding and research agency. He is Chairman of the trustees of the Trinity Mirror Pension Plan and a trustee of two charities, the Quest School for Autistic Children and the Family and Parenting Institute where he is treasurer.

Before joining NEST Corporation, Laurie was a Non-Executive Director of The Pensions Regulator, following three years on the board of its predecessor, OPRA.

Paul Hewitt, Trustee Member

Paul is currently Non-Executive Chairman of a number of companies including RJ Kiln, The Good Care Group and Four Times Enterprises. Paul is also Non-Executive Director of Collins Stewart, The Co-operative Banking Group and Shop Direct Financial Services.

Paul was previously a Non-Executive Director of NEST Corporation's predecessor the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA).

He joined the Co-operative Group in 2003 where initially he was Chief Financial Officer before becoming Acting Chief Executive of Co-operative Bank, CIS and Smile and later, Deputy Group Chief Executive.

In his earlier career, after qualifying as a chartered accountant, Paul worked as Finance Director in a number of private equity-backed and quoted companies.

Chris Hitchen, Trustee Member

Chris is Chief Executive of the Railways Pension Trustee Company and its operating company rpmi Ltd, which runs the industry-wide pension arrangement for the UK's railways. This covers 350,000 people and around 100 employer groups.

The scheme has assets of £17 billion and Chris also chairs the group's FSA-authorised investment subsidiary Railpen Investments. Before joining the rail scheme as Chief Investment Officer in 1998, he worked for 12 years as an investment consultant and actuary to a number of UK pension plans.

Chris is the immediate past Chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) and Chairman of the Pensions Quality Mark, an initiative to give recognition to good defined contribution pension provision. Chris is a past Chairman of both the NAPF Investment Council and the Institutional Shareholders Committee.

Julius Pursaill, Trustee Member

Julius retired from full-time employment in 2001 and has since acted as a Non-Executive Director and consultant for a number of technology-based companies. These have predominantly been in the financial services sector including Barrie & Hibbert, Quay Software and Capita. Julius also sits as an Independent Member on both the Heineken Pension Scheme Advisory Board and the Scottish Life Investment Advisory Committee.

Julius spent his early career in the retail financial services industry in sales management and designing financial services products.

In 1994 Julius joined the investment management company Mercury Asset Management and was appointed to head its Defined Contribution pensions business.

In 1998 he was appointed Head of e-Business for the Europe, Middle East and Africa global region at Merrill Lynch Investment Management.

Enid Rowlands, Trustee Member

Enid Rowlands has a background in change management, organisational transition and development. A Psychologist by qualification, she has chaired public sector bodies with budgets in excess of £1.2 billion and is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.

In recent years Enid has specialised in governance in public and not-for-profit sectors. She is currently a Board Member and Chair of HR/Remuneration of the General Medical Council, Consumer Focus and the Information Commissioner's Office.

She has served with a range of organisations and Ministerial Advisory Groups concerned with marginalised and disadvantaged groups in the workforce, including women returning to work and people with sensory impairment. She is also Chair for Victim Support.

Sue Slipman, Trustee Member

Sue has been the Chief Executive of the Foundation Trust Network since October 2004. She was previously Chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service and was also Executive Director with Camelot Group where she was responsible for social responsibility and external affairs.

Sue’s previous roles include Chief Executive of the Gas Consumers Council, the London Councils Transport and Environment Committee and the National Council for One Parent Families.

She has also held a number of public appointments. These include Chair of the Department for Trade and Industry’s Working Group on corporate social responsibility, and Chair of the National Consumer Council’s Policy commission on Public Services.

She has also chaired the Financial Services Authority's Schools Working Group on financial capability and was a Non-Executive Director of Thames Water until 2008.