Stop MS Appeal Board

Mark Wood

Stop MS Appeal Board, Chair

Private Equity Chairman and Investor

Mark, has held several senior positions in global institutions, including Global Head of Cash Management at Barclays Bank, Chief Executive of Prudential UK and Europe, AXA UK, AA, MAI and B&C. In 2006, with £500m of private equity backing, Mark founded Paternoster, which quickly became the market leader in Pension Bulk Annuities. The business was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2010. Mark chairs PensionBee, Digitalis, RAC Financial Services, Acquis Insurance, Utility Bidder, and Leakbot.

Until 2019, Mark was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the NSPCC.

Sir David Bell

Non-Executive Director, The Economist

Knighted for his longstanding services to industry, the arts and charity, Sir David is a non-executive director of The Economist, former director of Pearson plc and former Chair and Chief Executive of the Financial Times.
    
Sir David’s involvement in public life and service spans many years, and he is currently the President of Coram. He is Chair of the Cambridge University Press and Roehampton University, of the charities Transformation Trust, Rare Recruitment and Bath Mozartfest. 

Ann Cairns

Ann started life as a research scientist before moving into investment banking. She rose up the ranks in Citibank, then became CEO of Transaction Banking at ABN before joining Alvarez and Marsal. In 2011 Ann joined Mastercard as a C-suite Executive. Here, she led all customer-facing business outside the US and finished her career as Executive Vice Chair.

Ann has always been passionate about women holding equal positions in the corporate world to men. So she was Global Chair of the 30% Club until earlier this year and currently chairs the Financial Alliance for Women. She’s an advocate for women in STEM, supporting the MasterCard Girls4Tech programme to encourage girls worldwide to continue studying science.

Ann’s sister Katherine was diagnosed with MS over 30 years ago. She graduated with a Computing and Pharmacology degree and went on to become a Senior Executive designing computer systems for GPs. Katherine couldn’t continue her career due to her relapsing remitting MS. But she continues to seek the latest treatments today and use technology to live a full life with her family.

Professor Graham F Chase

Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Arbitrator

Graham’s career as a chartered surveyor and chartered arbitrator spans five decades. He’s currently Senior Surveyor at Chase Sinclair Clarke LLP and Head of Valuations at Barnsdales, Graham is an active full-time practitioner as an agent, surveyor arbitrator, independent expert and expert witness.

Among his many positions, Graham is a Fellow and Past President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Chairman of the Association of Town & City Management a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce,  and a visiting professor at Westminster University.

Iain Conn

Iain held the position of Group Chief Executive of Centrica plc for around 7 years.

He was previously BP's Chief Executive, Downstream, and was a board member from 2004-2014. He also served as a non-executive director and senior independent director of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc.

Iain is a non-executive director of BT Group plc, Chairman of the Advisory Board of Imperial College Business School, a member of the advisory board of the Centre for European Reform, a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists.

Sir Paul Curran

Sir Paul Curran was appointed as Chairman of The MS Society’s Board of Trustees in 2022.

Before serving as President of City, University of London for over a decade and previously as Vice-Chancellor of Bournemouth University and Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Science of the University of Southampton, Sir Paul Curran started his career as a university academic and was a NASA research scientist and advisor to the European Space Agency.

Having chaired several national committees, Sir Paul Curran is now Chair of the NHS England National Joint Registry and the Natural Environment Research Council Advisory Committee on Science Leadership, Director of the Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd., President of the Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Society and Patron of The Conversation UK.

“Since my daughter’s diagnosis of MS, I have developed a deep understanding of the condition and an empathy with and admiration for those living with MS, their family and friends.”

Nick Moberly

Chief Executive, MS Society

Nick joined us in early 2019, at a time of great opportunity for people affected by MS, both in terms of the help we can provide, and our work to stop the progression of MS.

Nick has a wealth of experience in leadership and the health sector, with a strong background in the NHS. His last two roles have been as CEO, most recently at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Before that he was CEO at Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for nine years.

Nick is also a trustee of Christian Aid, joining the charity in 2018.

Charlie Potter

Partner, Brunswick Group

Charlie co-leads Brunswick’s global litigation and disputes communications practice from the London office. He has advised on some of the most high-profile issues for global corporate clients in legal proceedings, investigations and wider disputes. 

Charlie was previously a barrister at Blackstone Chambers where he specialized in public/administrative and commercial law. In particular, in broadcasting and media regulation. He also acted for The Guardian newspaper in Max Mosley's appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Before becoming a lawyer, Charlie spent four years at the BBC. This included being a producer at the flagship television news and current affairs programme, Newsnight.

Charlie is the co-author of Understanding Legislation: A Practical Guide to Statutory Interpretation (Hart, 2018) and has contributed a chapter on Protecting Corporate Reputation in a Government Investigation to the GIR’s Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (2019). He has also written a guest chapter on family business and business family communications in the book Wise Family Business by Professor Joachim Schwass and Anne-Catrin Glemser (Palgrave, 2016).

David Silver

Non-executive Director and Investor

David originally qualified and practised as a lawyer before moving into investment banking. He spent 23 years at a US investment bank, including the last 9 years as Head of European investment banking. During this period he worked extensively with private equity firms globally, and their portfolio companies.

He's now chairman of Gravita, an SME-focused accounting firm backed by Tenzing, and a Non-executive Director of Phaidon International, a professional services firm focused on sourcing business critical talent, backed by an investor consortium led by Further Global.

David's also a Non-executive Director and Non-member Trustee of the UK Kidney Association, the leading professional body for the UK kidney community.

David was diagnosed with MS in 2011.

Jonathan Yates

Chairman, Monument Re

Jonathan is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries with over 35 years’ experience in the life insurance industry. In 2016, he co-founded and now chairs Monument Re, a life insurance and reinsurance group based in Bermuda. He was previously CEO of Windsor Life and, subsequently, Guardian Assurance and also Group Finance Director of Phoenix Group Holdings plc, a UK-listed insurance and asset management company.

Jonathan has previously held non-Executive Directorships with Paternoster Insurance in the UK and The Empire Life Insurance Company in Canada. He is currently a non-Executive Director with the Viridium Group in Germany.