Our leadership

Andrew Learoyd

Chairman of the Board

Term of office
Appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in February 2010 and became Chair of the Board in May 2016.

Committee membership
Andrew has chaired the Nomination Committee since September 2018 and is a member of the Remuneration Committee and the Market Disclosure Committee. He also chairs the ESG Committee, and attends meetings of the Risk and Compliance Committee and Audit Committee by invitation.

Independent
On appointment.

Skills and experience
Andrew spent 23 years working in investment banking as a research analyst, in corporate finance, equity capital markets and finally as Chief Operating Officer of the Equities Division in Europe of Goldman Sachs. He retired as a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs in 2006. Andrew has been involved as an angel investor, Non-Executive Director and consultant to several start-up businesses.

External appointments
Andrew is also an independent Non-Executive Director of Funding Circle Ltd. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of Threshold Sports Limited, which creates and delivers outdoor events for the public, corporate and charity sectors. Andrew is also a director of WLG Learning Ltd which provides educational services for children with special learning disabilities.

Lisa Jacobs

Chief Executive Officer

Term of office
Lisa was appointed to the Board as Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2022.

Committee membership
Lisa is a member of the Market Disclosure Committee and attends meetings of the Risk and Compliance, Remuneration, Audit and Nomination Committees by invitation.

Independent
Not applicable.

Skills and experience
Lisa joined Funding Circle in 2012 and was previously UK Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to Funding Circle, Lisa worked as a management consultant, both independently and for the Boston Consulting Group, where she had a financial services focus. She has had roles in NGOs in Tanzania and India.

External appointments
None.

Samir Desai CBE

Founder, Non-Executive Director

Term of office
Samir co-founded Funding Circle in 2010 and was previously Chief Executive Officer. He transitioned to a Non-Executive Director role in January 2022.  

Independent
No.

Skills and experience
Prior to founding Funding Circle, Samir was a Management Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and an Investment Executive at Olivant, a private equity firm that invests in financial services businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In 2015, Samir was awarded a CBE for services to financial services.

External appointments
Samir is the CEO and Founder of Super Payments Holdings and Super Payments Ltd.

Oliver White

Chief Financial Officer

Term of office
Oliver was appointed to the Board as Chief Financial Officer on 15 June 2020.

Committee membership
Oliver is a member of the Market Disclosure Committee and attends meetings of the Risk and Compliance, Remuneration and Audit Committees by invitation.

Independent
Not applicable.

Skills and experience
Oliver has spent the majority of his 30 years’ experience working in financial services, payments and lending. He joined from Vanquis Bank where he served as Chief Financial Officer. He was formerly the Chief Financial Officer at Barclaycard, where he managed a global business with combined assets of £40 billion, £5 billion of revenues and £1.6 billion of profits. Oliver is a chartered management accountant and holds an MBA from Warwick Business School.

External appointments
None.

Hendrik Nelis

Non-Executive Director

Term of office
Hendrik was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in September 2013.

Independent
No.

Skills and experience
Hendrik joined Accel in 2004 and focuses on software, FinTech and consumer internet companies. He led Accel’s investments in KAYAK (NASDAQ: KYAK, acquired by Priceline), Showroomprive (EPA: SRP), Funding Circle (LON: FCH), Callsign, Celonis, CHECK24, Instana, Miro and Zepz.

Hendrik started his career in Silicon Valley as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard before founding a venture-backed software company. He is from the Netherlands and graduated from Harvard Business School and Delft University of Technology.

External appointments
Hendrik serves as Manager, Partner Director and/or Member at a number of Accel entities, as well as a Director or supervisory board member of several other companies.

Neil Rimer

Non-Executive Director

Term of office
Neil was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in March 2011.

Committee membership
Neil is a member of the ESG Committee.

Independent
No.

Skills and experience
Neil is a Co-Founder and Partner of Index Ventures. Before starting Index Ventures, he spent four years with Montgomery Securities in San Francisco. Neil was previously a Director of Photobox Holdco Limited, Supercell Oy and The Climate Corporation.

External appointments
Neil is currently a Director on various boards of companies based in the UK, Europe, the Cayman Islands and the US including Raisin GmbH, Nexthink SA, Pitch Software GmbH, Sofia Holdings Limited, Taxfix GmbH and Typeform S.L. He is also the Co-Chair of Human Rights Watch.

Geeta Gopalan

Senior Independent Director

Term of office
Geeta was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in November 2018. She became Chair of the Audit Committee in November 2018. Geeta was appointed as Senior Independent Director in May 2021.

Committee membership
Geeta chairs the Audit & Risk Committee and is a member of the Nomination Committee and the Market Disclosure Committee.

Independent
Yes.

Skills and experience
Geeta has over 25 years of experience of financial services and retail banking, particularly payments and digital innovation. Geeta was formerly Executive Chair of Monitise Europe. Among the many roles in her career, Geeta was Director of Payment Services with HBOS plc and previously Managing Director, UK Retail Bank and Business Development Head EME at Citigroup. She is a chartered accountant.

External appointments
Geeta is a Non-Executive Director of NatWest Group plc and Auto Trader Group plc. Geeta is also a Trustee for the Old Vic Theatre.

Matthew King

Non-Executive Director

Term of office
Matthew was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in May 2021.

Committee membership
Matthew is a member of the Audit & Risk Committee, Remuneration Committee and ESG Committee. 

Independent
Yes.

Skills and experience
Matthew has over 36 years of experience in financial services. Having qualified as a solicitor with Slaughter and May, Matthew held a number of risk management positions with HSBC over a 15-year period across Asia, Australia, the Americas and Europe.

External appointments
Matthew is also the Chair of Funding Circle Ltd’s Board.

Helen Beck

Non-Executive Director

Term of office
Helen was appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director in June 2021.

Committee membership
Helen chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Nomination Committee, Audit & Risk Committee and ESG Committee. Helen has also taken on the role of designated Non-Executive Director for workforce engagement.

Independent
Yes.

Skills and experience
Helen has over 25 years of experience in financial services, particularly in remuneration design, regulation and human resources. Helen was formerly a Partner at Deloitte and, among her previous roles in her career, Helen was Global Head of Reward at Standard Bank, Head of McLagan Europe (part of Aon) and held roles in human resources at Fidelity International.

External appointments
Helen serves as Non-Executive Director of Ashmore Group PLC (where she is Chair of the remuneration committee), Governor of the University of Bedfordshire and independent member of the remuneration committee for The British Olympic Association.

Lucy Vernall

Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary

Term of office
Lucy was appointed Company Secretary in July 2014.

Independent
Not applicable.

Skills and experience
Lucy is responsible for the Legal, Compliance, ESG and Communications functions of the business, in addition to being Company Secretary. Prior to joining Funding Circle in 2014, Lucy was one of the founder members of Kemp Little LLP, a technology focused City law firm. She was managing partner of the firm from 2009 until 2011, when she became Wonga’s first General Counsel.

External appointments
Lucy serves on the Board of the charities Bardhan Research and Education Trust of Rotherham and The Emerson Trust.