FJ Advisors
Leslie Ferrar CVO FCA
Leslie read Chemistry at Durham before training as an accountant with KPMG where she became a tax Partner. She was the Treasurer to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall from 2005 until 2012. Subsequently she has taken on a number of non-executive positions including becoming a trustee of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (a new organisation established to create a permanent legacy for the Queen) as well as sitting on the board of Secure Income REIT plc. Leslie recently joined the governing Council of her alma mater, Durham University.
Dr Alastair MacColl
Alastair spent the first part of his career leading award winningdaily newspaper and multi-media business for Trinity Mirror (Reach)
Plc and the Daily Mail and General Trust Plc. He went on to become the founding CEO and Chairman of BE Group ( now UMi ), now a major employee owned company which works with governments, corporates and
thousands of SME's across the UK. Alastair has chaired the boards of UK and Scottish Universities and currently holds a number of Non Executive positions. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Business from Teesside University in 2022.
His networks and experience spans across, business, government, media and education.
Sir Andrew Cubie CBE FRSE
Andrew was variously Chairman and Senior Partner of a number of law firms, including Fyfe Ireland LLP, having specialised in Corporate law. He has held a number of non-executive directorships including, Kinloch Anderson Ltd, Chair of Quality Scotland, Chairman of Governors of George Watson's College, Chairman of the Court of Napier University, Chairman of the Committee of University Chairmen for the UK, Convenor of the Independent Committee of Inquiry into Student Finance in Scotland ("the Cubie Committee"), Chairman of the CBI in Scotland, Chair of VSO in the UK and Deputy Chairman globally, and was Deputy Chairman of the RNLI for the UK and Ireland. Currently he chairs the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, the JNC of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, Safe Deposits Scotland Limited, the Goodison Group in Scotland and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. He also chairs the Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives, Scotland's Garden Trust and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Foundation and is a Board member of Scotland’s Futures Forum.
Paddy Walker PhD
Paddy runs the Leon group, a fourth generation family office. He is a graduate of Durham, has an MBA from Cornell and a Masters from Buckingham’s School of Modern War Studies. He is co-chair of the London Committee of Human Rights Watch and a director of Article 36, the NGO think-tank focused on reducing collateral harm from weapons. Paddy has a PhD in the field of autonomous weapons and challenges to their deployment. A previous chair of the UK’s Institute of Family Business Family Office forum, Paddy sits on Leon’s Philanthropy Board that manages the family’s charity projects.
Dr Arnab Basu DL MBE
Arnab is the Chief Executive and a Founder of Kromek Plc. Arnab has a PhD in physics from Durham University, specialising in semiconducting sensor materials. Arnab held senior management positions in his family business, which manufactured materials for the electronics industry serving over 250 major telecommunications and consumer electronics manufacturers, including Siemens, GEC. He worked in commercial product development for Elmwood Sensors Ltd, (Honeywell Group, UK). A prominent figure within the business community, he was awarded Ernst and Young ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ (2009) and received an MBE for services to regional development and international trade (2014).
Could you be one of our trusted advisors? For a confidential discussion email us at hello@fjphilanthropy.com