Rory Brooks, Shrenik Davda, and Mark Simms have joined the Charity Commission board for three-year terms.
Board members are paid £350 per day for approximately 24 days per year, and any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years has to be declared.
Davda and Simms have not declared any significant political activity, while Brooks has declared financial donations to the Conservative and Unionist Party.
Three appointments
In 1988, Brooks founded what is now MML Capital, a European mid-market growth capital provider. He stepped down as chair in 2023.
Brooks and his wife established their family philanthropic foundation in 2005 with a focus on social disadvantage, education and arts.
Among other government appointments he was the donor member of the Pearce Review into philanthropy in higher education.
Davda has almost 40 years of banking experience and has also established and or run several regulated financial advisory boutiques. Notably, he co-founded New Europe Capital Partners Ltd, which was acquired by Deutsche Bank.
He has served as trustee for three charities focused on orphan support in East Africa, humanitarian aid for refugees in the Middle East and girls' education in Kenya.
In 2022 he was appointed as lay member of the board of IPSO, the independent regulator of the newspaper and magazine industry in the UK.
Simms is chief executive of P3 Charity and the Rugby Portobello Trust, and he has more than 25 years’ experience in the charity sector. Under his leadership, P3 Charity has expanded its services to reach more people in need.
He has served for much of his career as a non-executive director or trustee of many independent charities, large and small.
His current portfolio includes being a trustee of Homeless Link, adviser to the CEO of Big Society Capital, and more.
Orlando Fraser ‘extremely pleased’ with appointments
Orlando Fraser, chair of the Charity Commission, said he is “extremely pleased” with these three board appointments, “all of which, in differing ways, add to the expertise of the board”.
He added: “Mark Simms is a legendary charity sector chief executive, known especially for his work at the Rugby Portobello Trust during the Grenfell Tragedy. I know him well from his charity work, and he is a terrific appointment.
“Shrenik Davda has immense experience of large project delivery, foreign aid, and Ukraine, as well as regulatory experience from his continuing work at IPSO.
“Rory Brooks is an ideal person to help the Charity Commission’s efforts to improve philanthropic giving amongst the top 1%. He has been recognised with a CBE for his own substantial philanthropy.”
Fraser reportedly volunteered at the Rugby Portobello Trust more than full-time for six weeks after the Grenfell tragedy, while Simms was its chief executive.
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