Rick Haythornthwaite

Rick Haythornthwaite is a highly accomplished professional serving as the Chairman Designate of the NatWest Group, Chairman of the Ocado Group, and a non-executive director of the AA. He is also a senior advisory partner at Moelis & Co and the chairman of the fintech company, Embedded Finance Ltd.

With a strong educational background, Rick graduated from The Queen's College, Oxford with an MA in Geology and later from MIT as a Sloan Fellow in 1991. His early career spanned various roles at BP, starting as an exploration geologist and moving on to leadership positions before transitioning to Premier Oil in 1995.

Rick Haythornthwaite's career highlights include leadership roles at Blue Circle cement group, where he played a pivotal role in consolidating the sector and eventually became Group Chief Executive. He also led the successful defense against a hostile bid, orchestrated a performance turnaround, and oversaw the sale of the company. He later served as the CEO of Invensys, a prominent industrial controls company.

In addition to his current roles, Rick has held significant positions such as chairman of Mastercard Inc, Centrica, Network Rail, and QiO Technologies. He has also been a partner at Star Capital and a non-executive director at various companies like Cookson plc, Lafarge SA, Land Securities plc, and ICI plc. His experience also extends to chairing the UK Better Regulation Commission and Risk & Regulatory Advisory Council.

Beyond his corporate engagements, Rick has been actively involved in the not-for-profit sector, particularly in the arts, culture, and tech industry. He has chaired boards at prominent organizations like the Almeida Theatre, Southbank Centre, the World Wide Web Foundation, and Creative UK. Furthermore, Rick authored the Haythornthwaite Review of the UK Armed Forces in 2022-23 for the Secretary of State for Defence.

Rick Haythornthwaite's extensive professional journey, coupled with his diverse experiences across different sectors, showcases his strong leadership, strategic acumen, and multi-faceted expertise that have made him a respected figure in the business and nonprofit realms.