Simon became Chair of Young Enterprise in January 2020. He has a longstanding passionate interest in both education and social mobility, having chaired the UK-US Fulbright Commission from 2009-13. He was awarded an OBE in 2014 for services to international education. Simon is also a founding member of the Speakers for Schools programme.
Simon runs his own advisory firm Lewis Advisors, providing strategic counsel to business leaders, in partnership with his son Tom Lewis, and Stuart Roden, former chairman of the Lansdowne Partners. Prior to that Simon was Vice Chair EMEA at FTI Consulting and previously spent nine years as Chief Executive of the investment banking trade body the Association for Financial Markets in Europe. Simon is also a co-presenter of ‘When it Hits the Fan’, a recently launched BBC Radio 4 Programme and Podcast.
Other pivotal roles held in Simon’s career, include Director of Communications at 10 Downing Street and Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Official Spokesman. He had previously been corporate affairs director at Vodafone and Centrica and first Communications Secretary to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Simon is perfectly placed to steer Young Enterprise during an exciting period for the charity.
Andrew is the Group CFO at Tilney Smith & Williamson. He qualified as an accountant in 1987 and specialised in insurance company taxation at EY and PWC. He then held a number of roles in the insurance sector, later as CFO for a number of groups and then at TPICAP the interdealer broker.
Andrew joined Tilney in 2018 where he has reorganised the finance function, implemented new finance systems, coordinated a refinancing, a corporate reorganisation, and the successful acquisition of Smith & Williamson in 2020.
Andrew has served as a governor of a school and has been an independent member of our Risk & Audit Committee since 2018, joining the Board in May 2022.
Carl Reader joined the Young Enterprise Board in March 2021. Carl is an entrepreneur and small business champion with a background in accountancy.
Carl serves as Chair of the Practitioner Panel at ACCA and is widely recognised as a thought leader in the accounting profession, speaking globally to accountancy audiences about a range of topics. He features regularly in the national press and on stage and regularly provides content through his social media channels.
Carl is chairman of business advisory firm d&t and author of Boss It, The Startup Coach and The Franchising Handbook. Carl also hosts a podcast.
Chris Slater joined the Young Enterprise Board in February 2019. A highly successful entrepreneur, Chris is the co-founder of Simply Business, an organisation he helped to grow from a tiny start-up to one of the UK’s largest online business insurance providers. Having sold the business in 2017 Chris recently returned to the Simply Business board as an advisor and began to put the foundations together for a new profit and purpose-led private equity fund.
He currently invests in start-ups across both the fintech and impact-led sectors, as well as advising and supporting a number of charitable ventures. Chris has a particular passion for reinventing the education system and addressing the social mobility issues that exist in the UK through empowering young people with the skills they need to be successful.
Donna joined the Young Enterprise Board in October 2022. She started her career as a teacher in 2017 and specialised in PE and Sport. Her career developed through middle leadership and then specifically into Special Educational Needs as an Assistant Headteacher.
Donna has dedicated years of her career in ensuring the most vulnerable students achieve well in their education. Donna has driven strategy to drive social mobility and became Headteacher of Denbigh High (Luton) in 2018.
In 2022 she was awarded an MBE in recognition of her contribution to education.
Wayne founded the Active Group Limited in 2002 and has over 35 years’ experience in creating, managing and developing investment products and regulatory services from a commercial perspective. Wayne has been a passionate supporter of philanthropy and volunteering, especially in the support and development of young people. He was at the centre of the strategic leadership of the Scout Movement in the UK from 2001, overseeing its significant transformation and growth
A highly regarded inspirational leader and philanthropist, Wayne’s significant contributions were recognised in the 2017 Birthday Honours when he was made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his voluntary services to young people.
Mina joined the Young Enterprise Board in July 2021. She is a 2013 Young Enterprise alumna, and took part in the Start Up Programme whilst studying for her Leadership and Management degree.
Her Young Enterprise experience and learning about what the organisation stands for set the foundations of her career path. Mina currently works at an education charity and runs her own business during evenings and weekends, designing home decor, gifts and wedding stationery, which she set up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Having experienced first-hand the difference organisations like Young Enterprise make to young people, Mina is passionate about being part of a mission to ensure no child’s potential is limited by their socio-economic background.
Raj is General Counsel and Company Secretary at Wincanton Plc. Prior to this, he spent several years at Mitie Group Plc, latterly as Group Counsel. In both of these roles, he gained extensive experience in working with start-ups and high-growth businesses and thrives on the energy and buzz associated with these sorts of businesses.
Raj is a Young Enterprise alumnus, having been the Finance Director of a successful Young Enterprise company in 2001, reaching the National Finals. He was involved in re-establishing a Bristol Young Enterprise Board and subsequently was a member of the Greater Manchester Young Enterprise Board. He joined the Young Enterprise Board in January 2019.
Sabreen joined the Young Enterprise Board in July 2021. She has combined her love of entrepreneurship and her interest in supporting young people throughout her career, having worked in several education charities before founding PIYA Media, a digital marketing agency for BAME Creatives and Entrepreneurs.
Since graduating from Worcester College, Oxford with a degree in Arabic & Islamic Studies, Sabreen has been a frequent speaker at careers events and conferences for school and university students, and is excited to join Young Enterprise to support young people in realising their potential.
Saj Jetha joined the Young Enterprise Board in January 2019. Saj is an economist, author and founder of the multi-award winning talent agency The Smarty Train.
Saj started his career as a Strategy Consultant at Accenture and then moved to EY’s Strategy Advisory Practice. There, he focused on the transformation of central government and received a ‘Best of the Best’ Award. One of his career highlights was being involved in London’s bid for the 2012 Olympics.
Saj is a school governor and a Trustee of The University of London Convocation Trust and in his spare time loves baking sourdough bread.
John Sills is Managing Partner at the customer-led growth company, The Foundation, and author of The Human Experience.
25 years ago, he started his career on a market stall in Essex, and since then has worked in and with companies around the world to make things better for customers. He’s been in front-line teams delivering the experience, innovation teams designing the propositions, and global HQ teams creating the strategy. He’s been a bank manager during the financial crisis (not fun), launched a mobile app to millions of people (very fun), and regularly visits strangers’ houses to ask very personal questions (incredible fun).
He now works with companies across industries and around the world, and before joining The Foundation spent twelve years at HSBC, latterly as Head of Customer Innovation. His first book on the topic – The Human Experience – was published by Bloomsbury in February 2023, and his writing has been featured in The Guardian, The FT, and Management Today.
Graham has worked for Delta since 2008 and is their Regional Director – Finance EMEA, responsible for providing financial expertise to the European, Middle East and Africa business, including ensuring accounting control and compliance across 32 countries.
Prior to joining Delta, Graham spent ten years in various finance roles with British Airways, including some time spent working in the USA. He started his career with Balfour Beatty in Liverpool and holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Operation and Control from the University of Salford.
Graham is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and joined the Board of Young Enterprise in February 2019, having served as an independent member of the Risk and Audit Committee since March 2018.
Independent Member Lucy Cohen
Company Programme Alumna Lucy joined the Young Enterprise Risk & Audit Committee in June 2023 as an independent member.
Lucy is the co-founder of Mazuma GB Ltd. Mazuma was created drawing on Lucy’s childhood experiences of seeing the stress and anxiety that tax can cause for people. Growing up in a family of self-employed creatives she noticed that they were fantastic at what they did, but not so great with the tax and accounts side of their businesses. Spotting a gap in the market for low-cost, subscription-based accountancy services, Mazuma was born.
Lucy is also a successful author. Her career has seen Lucy receive many accolades including the 2021 Outstanding Contribution Award at the Accounting Excellence Awards and the AAT’s Past Presidents Award in September 2022. She was also elected to the AAT Council.
In her spare time, Lucy is involved in the sport of Powerlifting where she has competed internationally for both Wales and Great Britain.
