CrowdBnk appoints Ian Pearson as new Chairman

At CrowdBnk, we’re excited to announce the appointment of former Treasury Minister, Ian Pearson, as our Chairman. Ian takes over from Rob Taylor who stepped down following his appointment as Head of Wealth Management and Private Banking at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Since retiring from politics in 2010, Ian has worked in strategy and business development for major organisations. He is a member of the Advisory Board of PwC, Chairman of OVCT2 plc, and a senior adviser to Avanti plc and GK Strategy.

During his time in government, Ian had responsibility for a wide range of economic and financial issues, science and research funding, as well as Board level interaction across key sectors of the UK economy including banking, energy and renewables, space, automotive and engineering.

Prior to becoming a Minister, Ian was a Non-Executive Director of GLE Capital and was joint-CEO of WMEB Group, which provided venture and growth capital to small and medium sized companies and consultancy to a range of public and private clients.

Regarding the new appointment, our CEO Ayan Mitra commented: "Rob has played a crucial role in the establishment of CrowdBnk’s strong corporate governance and due diligence processes in order to bring quality equity investment opportunities to the broadest range of appropriate UK-based investors. We wish him well in his new role with the FCA.

Ian’s experience of operating in senior roles within government, as well as his broad knowledge of both strategy and business development in international companies, makes him perfectly placed to take over from Rob to further grow and develop our platform. He has exceptional understanding of the world in which we operate and I look forward to working with him closely."

Speaking to Ian, he said “The growth of the SME sector in this country is of critical importance to the growth of the UK economy. CrowdBnk’s ethos of providing quality investments to the widest range of appropriate investors offers real choice for small businesses seeking funding and I believe we have a key role to play in shaping the future of the crowdfunding industry.”