Mid-Market Growth Council  

Paul was appointed Chief Executive Officer in July 2023. Prior to becoming Group Chief Executive, he was Chief Executive of the bank’s Commercial & Institutional (C&I) business, bringing together the teams that support NatWest’s business customers, ranging from entrepreneurs and start-ups through to multi-nationals and financial institutions.

Paul brings strong UK and International expertise in strategic and cultural transformation, scale leadership, balance sheet management and risk, and a sharp focus on customer experience.

Throughout his executive and non-executive career, Paul has taken an active role in promoting talent, and building and leading inclusive teams across multiple regions, geographies and disciplines, to deliver performance for customers and wider stakeholders.

Paul has over 30 years’ experience in financial services having held senior roles within Wholesale, Corporate, International, Risk and Retail Banking, across the UK, Europe and US. 

Paul is a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Manchester.

As a member of the Corporate & Institutional Executive Committee, Andy Gray is responsible for leading the Commercial Mid-Market across the UK.

Commercial Mid-Market brings together our face-to-face relationship management businesses, including Corporate Real Estate, Lombard and Working Capital Sales under a single construct dedicated to meeting the needs of SME and Mid-Corporate customers.

Andy is also Chairman of Lombard North Central Plc and Cushon Group Ltd, as well as Climate and Sustainability Lead for Commercial and Institutional Banking.

He joined RBS in 2011 from Barclays, where he held a number of senior positions. With over 30 years’ experience in Corporate Banking in the UK, Europe and Africa, Andy has led coverage, structured finance and product teams throughout his career.

Andy is a Foundation Governor at St Thomas of Canterbury Catholic Primary School. He lives in Surrey with Caroline and has three “grown up” children.   He enjoys running, mountain biking and ski-ing and is a keen follower of, and sometime participant in, a variety of sports.

He holds a degree in Economics from Cambridge University.

Irene is a former senior banker at Standard Chartered Bank, where she held both European and global managing director roles. She led a host of strategic work across the industry, including leading the Business Finance Taskforce set up by the CEOs of the UK banks which resulted in the creation of the BGF, the Enterprise Research Centre, and the SME Finance Monitor. Irene was interviewed as part of the Report’s development and is appearing beside Andy on the opening panel of the Business Leader summit the day before Council meets.

James has been a financial journalist for over 20 years; as City Editor and Executive Editor at the Evening Standard and also worked at Reuters and the Sunday Times. He is the CEO of the Quoted Companies Alliance (QCA), which is an enabling, principles-based, corporate governance code for companies focused on growth. James was interviewed as part of the Report’s development.

Andy is CEO and a member of BGF’s Board and executive team, sitting on the national Investmet Committee and Chair of the BGF Foundation. He has significant experience of regional private equity, having worked at Livingbridge, Bridgepoint and Royal Bank Development Capital, and was previously Group Finance Director of Pennine Retail Systems. He is a chartered accountant, with over 30 years’ experience in private equity, acquisition finance and corporate finance.

Steve is Managing Director of JJ Ormerod, a 150-year-old, Lancashire-based family business which manufactures and supplies kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. Employing 330 staff at its 1.2m sq ft base in Bacup it became an employee-owned company in March 2021. They are a long-standing customer to the bank, and we completed an invoice finance facility of £2m last year. Steve was interviewed as part of the Report’s development.

Richard founded Homeserve, serving as CEO [1993-2023] and recently announcing his departure as Chair in January 2025. He has an investment fund Growth Partner and owns Business Leader, aiming to double the number of UK large companies to 15k over the next five years. NWG previously (in 2016) exited HomeServe but re-entered at the time of its acquisition by Brookfield in 2022. We partnered with Business Leader at their recent Summit.

Louise is the Chief Economist at the CBI and a member of its Executive Committee. She and her team provide business leaders with advice on the UK economic outlook and global risks. Building on the insights from members, she shapes the CBI’s overall view on economic and fiscal policy and leads the CBI’s discussions with senior politicians and policymakers in these areas. Louise also oversees the CBI’s economic consultancy business CBI Economics.

Henri has been CEO of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) since 2022, having previously been a Director. The NPP represents business and civic leaders across the North of England, working with central government, local authorities and the private sector to boost local productivity and the economy by focusing on areas including skills and education, R&D, and major infrastructure projects. Henri was previously Public Affairs Manager at the Yorkshire Building Society (2013-17) and has experience in campaigns with the Labour Party.

Steve is Co-Chief Executive of Rigby Group, a top 500 global family business that has been at the forefront of transformative change in technology, philanthropy, and sustainable business practices. Steve is Deputy Chair of FBUK (he is due to become Chair in April 2025) and Chair of the Private Business Commission, where he advocates for policy to better support UK private enterprises, family businesses, and entrepreneurs. Rigby Group has a multi-faceted relationship with NWG, commencing in the 1990s and leading to us providing banking support across all of their divisions. Steve was interviewed as part of the Report’s development.

Jonny joined the British Chambers of Commerce as a Policy Manager in October 2022. Preceding this, he worked as a Parliamentary assistant for over four years. 

Max was appointed Executive Chair of Omex Agriculture Ltd in January 2022. He first joined the business in 2014 as a Business Development Manager and served as Managing Director from 2017-2021. Omex has been with NWG since 2006 and is a large group with trading activity across the globe, mainly in agricultural liquid fertiliser. Max was interviewed as part of the Report’s development.

Dr Olga Kozlova is the Government Investment Lead for the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor Unit. She supports Lord Patrick Vallance (Minister for Science, Innovation, Research and Nuclear) in his additional role as the corridor's Champion, and splits her time between HM Treasury and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

She is also currently Director of Innovation and Engagement at Oxford University. Dr Koslova started her career by founding a biotech company, screening for novel antifungal drugs. She also founded the Converge Challenge, a national programme in Scotland, aimed at students and staff at universities, helping them to develop their entrepreneurial ideas and create profitable companies. This helped over 500 entrepreneurs and developed over 300 companies. She is a new member of the Council, joining for its first official meeting of 2026.