D I R E C T O R S


MARTIN GRAY (60) is the Non-executive Chairman and Chairman of the Nominations Committee. He joined the Group on 26 May 2005. Martin spent over 36 years with the Nat West Bank Group. From 1992 to 1998 he was Chief Executive of Nat West UK and Executive Director of the Retail Commercial Business until October 1999. From 1993 to 1999 he was a Group Board member of Nat West Group Plc. In his operational role in charge of the group’s UK businesses he was responsible for assets of over £100 billion, annual revenues of nearly £5 billion, annual profits of approximately £1 billion and over 55,000 staff. Martin was also a member of the Global Board of MasterCard Inc from 1993 to 1996 and was a director of Visa Europe from 1996 to 1999. He is currently a Non-executive director of National Savings and Investments.

ALEX SNOW (37), Group Chief Executive Officer, joined the Group in May 2000 and continues to lead and develop the Group’s businesses through acquisitions and the diversification of income streams. Alex’s previous career experience was with CSFB and BZW in the equity sales, trading and capital markets areas. He is a graduate of St Andrew’s University. Alex is in charge of the day-to-day and strategic management of the Group’s activities. He works closely with Andrew Umbers in continuing to develop the strategic direction of Evolution Securities Limited, acts as Chief Executive Officer and Chairs the Williams de Broë Limited Board, Chairs the Board of Evolution Securities China Limited and is also a director of all other Group subsidiaries.

ANDREW UMBERS (42), Executive Director, joined the Group on 12 April 2006 as CEO of Evolution Securities Limited and was appointed an Executive Director of the Group on 7 June 2006. Prior to Joining Evolution Andrew had spent 20 years working in UK equity markets, principally with Credit Suisse since its acquisition of BZW, which he joined in 1990. He was appointed a Managing Director of Credit Suisse Equities in 2000, and in 2005, he joined Credit Suisse’s global hedge fund, Modal Capital.

The Group’s Non-executive Board members, all of whom are considered independent under the Combined Code, combined with the Executive Directors provide a cohesive balance of experience in strategic and operational management in the financial services sector. Oliver Vaughan retired at the AGM on 25 May 2006 having served nine years on the Board. Mark Nicholls was appointed as a Non-executive director on 29 September 2006.

LORD MACLAURIN OF KNEBWORTH, DL (70), is the Senior Independent Non-executive director and following the retirement of Oliver Vaughan on 25 May 2006, Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. He joined the Group on 13 July 2004. Lord MacLaurin is currently a member of the supervisory Board of Heineken N.V, Chairman of the Vodafone Group Foundation and an advisor to Vodafone Group Plc, where he was Chairman of the company and of the Nomination and Governance Committees until his retirement from the Board in July 2006. He was formerly Chairman of Tesco Plc from 1985 to 1997, and has been a director of Enterprise Oil Plc, Guinness Plc, National Westminster Bank Plc and Whitbread Plc.

NICHOLAS IRENS (60) is Chairman of the Audit Committee. He joined the Group on 1 January 2004. He is a Chartered Accountant with recent and relevant financial experience. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1970 and went on to become the Finance Director of First Leisure Corporation Plc from 1988 to 1992. Most recently he founded Vardon Plc, renamed Cannons Group Plc, in 1992. He was Chairman of that group between 1998 and 2001 when he stepped down following its sale. Nick currently has a number of Non-executive appointments, which include the Non-executive Chair of Care Principles Limited, The James Hull Group Limited, Sporting Index Limited and a Non-executive directorship of Leisure and Media VCT Plc.

MARK NICHOLLS (57) joined the Group on 29 September 2006. He is currently Chairman of EcoSecurities Group Plc and whose other non-executive directorships include Bovis Homes Group Plc and Venture Production Plc. After qualifying as a solicitor with Linklaters, Mark joined SG Warburg, the investment bank. During a Warburgs career spanning two decades he rose to head Warburgs’ corporate finance division and became a main board director of SG Warburg Group PLC. He left Warburgs in 1996 in the wake of its sale to Swiss Bank Corporation, which in turn subsequently was acquired by UBS. He then spent seven years as a director of the private equity division of Royal Bank of Scotland, and was Managing Director of Royal Bank Private Equity from 2000-2003.

PETER GIBBS (49), Non-Executive Director, has a wealth of financial services experience in the Asset Management sector. Having begun his career at Brown Shipley, Gibbs joined Bankers Trust in 1985 as a Senior Portfolio Manager. In 1989 he joined Mercury Asset Management (MAM) where he rose to become Head of the International Equities Division. Following the acquisition of MAM by Merrill Lynch, Gibbs was appointed co-Head of Equity Assets worldwide. In 2003 he became Chief Investment Officer and Head of Region for Merrill Lynch’s Investment Management activities outside the US. Gibbs was a non-executive director of Bridgewell Group PLC between June 2006 and August 2007. This followed his early retirement from Merrill Lynch in November 2005.


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