LONDON, 3rd December 2019: Simon Lewis OBE has been appointed Chairman of Young Enterprise (YE), the UK’s leading enterprise and financial education charity, succeeding Grey Denham who is stepping down as Chairman after five years in the role and over 13 years as a trustee of the Charity.
Simon Lewis is taking up a new role as Vice Chair EMEA at FTI Consulting on 6th January 2020, following a nine year period as the founding CEO of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the trade body representing Europe’s wholesale banking industry. His career has spanned both the private and public sectors. Prior to AFME, he was Director of Communications and the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman at 10 Downing Street. In 1998, he was appointed as the first Communications Secretary to The Queen. He has also held a number of senior corporate roles, including Director of Corporate Affairs at Vodafone, Centrica and NatWest.
He attended Whitefield Comprehensive, North London, and then Brasenose College, Oxford, where he received an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He then studied at the University of California at Berkeley as a Fulbright Scholar. He was awarded an OBE in the 2014 Honours List for public service and services to international education through his chairmanship of the Fulbright Commission. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, a board member of TheCityUK and Chairman of the Council of University College School.
Grey Denham has been a long-term supporter of Young Enterprise, joining as a member of the YE Business Leadership Council from 2003 to 2005 and became a Director and Trustee of the charity in 2006.
Grey also chaired the Remuneration Committee from 2011 until 2014 and was a member of the Risk & Audit Committee from 2009 until 2014. Grey is a qualified barrister and his former appointments include Secretary and Group Director Legal and Compliance at GKN plc, former Chair of the Primary Markets Group of The London Stock Exchange and the CBI in the West Midlands, former non-executive director of Charter International plc and the Competition Commission. Grey is also a current Trustee of the University of London Convocation Trust.
Grey Denham said: “Young Enterprise is an exceptional charity and I am hugely proud of the achievements of the charity since I first got involved in 2003. I will always be a supporter and am excited to see how YE continues to inspire young people from a range of different backgrounds to build successful futures.”
Simon Lewis said: “I am honoured to become the Chairman of Young Enterprise which has such a rich heritage of helping young people fulfil their potential. I would like to thank Grey for all he has done for the Charity over so many years. I am excited about the difference the charity can make as I believe that Young Enterprise’s work is more pressing than ever. Young people today face unprecedented social and economic challenges. I look forward to working with the board and the management team, led by new CEO Sharon Davies, over the coming years.” .