General Counsel & Company Secretary
Nick has extensive legal and governance experience, having been General Counsel and Company Secretary in FTSE 100 businesses since 2001; originally qualifying as a solicitor at Linklaters & Paines in 1993. He is a founder and honorary life member of the industry body, the GC100.
Nick is a Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee of the Board of Defence Equipment and Support, an ALB of the Ministry of Defence.
Nick joined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as Non-Executive Director in June 2024 and is Chair of its Audit Committee.
He was appointed Chair of the NERC/BAS Operations and Safety Assurance Group on 1 April 2025 and as a member of the Natural Environment Research Council. He is Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Ocado Retail Limited.
Previously Nick was Chief Executive of the Crown Prosecution Service, a role where he also led a £300 million cross-government IT change programme reforming the criminal justice system. Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff to the Chief Executive Officer of the Co-op Group, playing a pivotal role in saving the Co-op Bank and rescuing the Group from its existential crisis, then reforming the organisation's governance.
Nick joined the Co-op from B&Q’s owner, Kingfisher plc, where he was a member of the retail board and held a number of executive positions over the period 2007-13. He led the development of the sustainability strategy 'Net Positive' and was responsible for the Group's government affairs programme.
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