About Shepherds

Geoffrey Spencer

Geoff commenced his financial services career in 1974 with the NatWest Group and subsequently held senior positions at the Legal and General Group and Royal and SunAlliance Group. Prior to becoming Chief Executive of Shepherds in early 2006 he worked for two years as a Management Consultant and Interim Director when he fulfilled several Change Management roles for amongst others the Johnson Services Group, and Bradford and Bingley.

Joanne Hindle

Joanne joined the financial services industry in 1986 and has had a variety of roles within. She was on the Board of disability insurer Unum for 7 years as Corporate Services Director with the responsibility of all Governance matters.

Having left Unum in 2008 she is now Chair of the trade body ‘Investment &amp life assurance group.’ She also works part time for part of the AXA Group as head of legal and compliance

Kim Harris

Kim has been associated with the Shepherds for nine years, initially as a Non-executive Director and most recently as Chief Operating Office. In his role he carries accountability for all activities related to the generation and management of all new business income as well as preventing the loss of existing business premiums. His responsibilities as a main board director include contributing to the overall strategic and operational direction of the Society. As a senior manager at the Woolwich, Kim gained considerable experience of the regulated sector with a strong emphasis on sales and distribution. Prior to joining the Shepherds full time, Kim was the owner of a successful recruitment company, he has a clear understanding of the tasks involved in designing and building sustainable business levels.

Kim is a Freeman of the City of London and a member of MENSA. He is an active volunteer for the Scout Association, a gold level expedition assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme and has raised over £250,000 in support of local youth initiatives.

Roger Oakes

Roger has run his own management consultancy in drug development for the Pharmaceutical Industry over the past 7 years. Prior to this his positions included being the Managing Director of a Contract Research Organisation, and Executive Director of a NASDAQ quoted Biotechnology Company.

Michael Williams

Michael Williams has a background in international banking based in London and latterly in the Middle East. Since returning to the UK he has taken up a consultancy role for a Middle Eastern Bank assisting with the business strategy and formal application process to enable the bank to open a London based subsidiary. He also holds the position of Chairman of an IT and Recruitment plc.

Roles before moving to the Gulf included 6 years at Nomura Bank International plc where he was Managing Director, and 25 years with Barclays Bank Group including positions as Managing Director of Europe, Barclays Global Services and Corporate Finance Director of Barclays Corporate Division.