Interim Chair Appointed to the Royal Armouries

The Secretary of State has appointed Hemant Patel as interim Chair of the Royal Armouries for a term of six months commencing on 2 November 2018. Hemant Patel was born and educated in London before graduating from the University of Manchester having studied Physics with Astrophysics. He then moved into industry to train as a chartered management accountant.

He has worked at various multinational companies including Mars Inc and SC Johnson in financial, commercial and marketing roles before moving with his family to Yorkshire to join Asda in 2003. At Asda, Hemant carried out various roles in finance including Commercial Finance Director and Retail Finance Director as well as running Asda’s own label business and leading business reinvention as Director of Strategy.

Hemant then moved on to be Director of Online at the financial service provider, Provident Financial plc, with responsibility for their online loans businesses. Latterly he was Finance Director of the Pub Co at Greene King plc, leading the finance function for the business’s 1,700 managed pubs. He has just become Finance Director of Premier Inn and Restaurants at Whitbread plc.

Until 2017, Hemant was chairman of Interplay Theatre, a Leeds based company using the arts to work with children in special schools nationally and socially excluded children locally. He was given the Arts and Business Individual of the Year award in 2007 for his work with this charity.

Hemant was lead non-executive director and is Chairman of the Royal Armouries Trading and Enterprises Ltd Board as well as the Royal Armouries Audit and Finance and Capital Development Committees. He became a trustee of the Royal Armouries in July 2010.

This appointment has been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments. The appointments process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Under the Code, any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. Hemant has declared no such political activity.