Stephen William Hammond, MP, aged 47, Non-executive Director

Mr Hammond is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wimbledon having regained the seat for the Conservative Party in 2005 with a 7.2% swing, one of the largest in the country. Following his election he sat on the Finance Bill Committee and in December 2005 he was promoted by David Cameron to Shadow Transport Minister, a position he currently holds. Prior to entering Politics, Mr. Hammond had a long career in the City having joined Reed Stenhouse as a trainee in 1983. He became a Portfolio Manager of the UK General Equity Trust with Canada Life in 1985 and in 1987 he joined Philips & Drew UBS as an Equity Salesman. In 1992 Mr Hammond joined Kleinwort Benson where he became a Director in their Sales and Research department. In 1998 he joined Commerzbank Securities to help set up the Technology coverage of the newly formed Investment Bank. A year later he was appointed Director of pan-European Research. Mr Hammond left Commerzbank in 2003 to concentrate on the 2005 General Election.