Patrons

General Dame Sharon Nesmith DCB ADC

City Veterans MOD Sponsor

General Dame Sharon Nesmith is the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff.

General Dame Sharon Nesmith DCB ADC (Gen), commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals in 1992. Whilst in command she has been responsible for providing information and communication services, command support and capability development, in support of formation headquarters up to and including the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps and the UK Joint Force Headquarters. Higher command appointments were the 1st (United Kingdom) Signal Brigade and General Officer Commander the Army Recruiting and Initial Training Command.

She has served as Colonel Capability Plans in the Army Headquarters, the Head of Manning as a Brigadier, and the Director of Personnel as a Major General. She has also been the Senior Responsible Officer for the Armed Forces Recruiting Programme. She became the Deputy Chief of the General Staff in August 2022.

General Dame Sharon is the Honorary Colonel of the First Air Nursing Yeomanry, President of Women’s Royal Army Corp and the Vice President for Army Football and Army Rugby. Prior to this, she served as Master of Signals.

Michael Cole-Fontayn

Patron

Michael is Chairman for The Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI), Chairman of the Board of International Business and Diplomatic Exchange (IBDE) and an Independent Director of FICC Markets Standards Board, having previously spent 35 years with BNY Mellon, the last 7 years serving as Chairman of BNY Mellon Europe, Middle East and Africa.

In addition, Michael sits on numerous financial service industry associations, committees and boards, including the British American Business International Advisory Board, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) Advisory Board, the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA), and Co-chairs the Wholesale Banking Group of the European Financial Services Chairman’s Advisory Council (EFSCAC).

Michael is on the Court of The Merchant Taylors Livery Company, is a Trustee of a mental health charity CWMT Org and an Advisory Board Member of the City Mental Health Alliance.

Katie Shanahan

Ambassador

Katie is a former international athlete and award-winning sports broadcaster across platforms including talkSport, BBC, ITV, Sky Sports and Fox and has covered events ranging from the Olympics, Wimbledon and the World Cup. Prior to presenting, Katie competed globally for five years with England Hockey, winning bronze at the European Championships and clinching the Premiership title, before transitioning to become a leading voice in sports media.

Outside her day job, Katie introduces corporate audiences to “The Next Play” a framework helping teams and leaders navigate change and uncertainty with innovation and confidence. Drawing on her experiences overcoming setbacks, embracing new challenges and thriving in chaotic arenas.

As a proud member of a military family, with four relatives having served, Katie is the first public facing Ambassador for City Veterans in the United Kingdom, supporting ex service personnel entering the civilian workforce. She is also an Ambassador for Women for Women International, a global organisation supporting survivors of war and conflict.

Lt Gen James Swift CB OBE

Patron

Lieutenant General James Swift was the Chief of Defence People for the Ministry of Defence before retiring from military service in 2022 after a career spanning 33 years.

His previous role was General Officer Commanding of the 3rd (United Kingdom) the UK's high-readiness warfighting Division. Prior to which he was Assistant Chief of the General Staff (ACGS) where he led on corporate strategy and was the Chief of Staff of the Army. He was Head of Capability Strategy in the MOD for the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2015. Before that he commanded 20th Armoured Brigade from 31st May 2012.

He was Colonel Army Strategy in the MOD over the period of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 and the subsequent design of Army 2020. Prior to that he commanded the 2nd Battalion the Royal Welsh, which was defined by command of the Manoeuvre Battle Group on Op TELIC 10 between May and December 2007.

Richard Charnock

Patron

Currently non exec Chair of Handelsbanken Wealth and Asset management, Richard has held a range of senior roles in the Financial services sector including CEO of Lloyds Private Bank, CEO of Williams de Broe and CEO of Aberdeen Capital. He has been an exec director of Standard Life Investments and Standard LIfe Savings and non exec director of the CISI and HDFC International.

Richard served with the First Royal Tank Regiment in the early 1980's in Germany, Cyprus and the Middle East. He is a keen sailor and member of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers.

David Sayer

Patron

David was the Vice Chair of KPMG in the UK and was previously Global Head of Banking before retiring in 2022.. He was the sponsor of the Military network within KPMG, through which the firm has successfully recruited many veterans over the last decade.

David joined KPMG in 2005 having been a partner for ten years in PWC Consulting and then IBM after the sale of the business in 2002. He spent twelve years on a Senior Executive development programme with Lloyds Bank having qualified with PwC. He was elected to the KPMG UK Board between 2012 - 2017. He leads KPMG’s relationships across the strategic trade corridors with China and Asia Pacific, as well as representing the firm on several Government boards, including; The HM Treasury Professional Services Council and The BEIS Professional and Business Services Council.

The Committee

Francis Roseman

Chairman

Francis, a former regular army officer, served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining Citigroup as the first hire on their Veteran programme - an initiative that is now highly successful and closely involved with City Veterans.
After 10 years at Citi Francis is now a Managing Director at J. Safra Sarasin. He also serves as a Trustee for a number of national Service charities and remains an officer with the Army Reserve.
Sid Welham

Head of Events

Sid served 19 years as an infantry officer, first with the Royal Regiment of Wales and latterly the Royal Welsh.
He is currently the COO for Professional Services at Evelyn Partners. Prior to this he held operational and programme roles at KPMG and the international law firm, HFW. Sid sits on the Board of Trustees of the Forces Employment Charity.
Andy Thomson

Auctions Lead
Andy spent 20 years in the Royal Artillery, serving on operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. Leaving the Army after regimental command in 2014, he joined UBS’s Compliance and Operational Risk Control department in a surveillance role. Andy co-founded the UBS Veterans’ Network, representing them on the City Veterans’ committee. Returning to Defence in 2018, Andy was the Saab UK Marketing and Sales Director for Surveillance products, before moving into the supply chain in 2024 and is now Director, Sales and Marketing for Swagelok Central UK
Tom Laing-Baker

Defence and Government Liaison
Tom helps lead KPMG’s Defence Advisory and Joint Ventures practice, having previously worked as Private Secretary to Her late Majesty The Queen. Holding the Defence and National Security portfolio and sitting on a number of Government committees, he worked across Commonwealth Defence and Security estates, and has extensive experience of the issues facing defence, and Veterans looking to transition into a new career. Tom currently sits on a number of other boards and provides private office and government advisory services both in the UK and Middle East.
Pete Flynn

Tables Coordinator
Peter served as an officer in the Parachute Regiment for 25 years, with multiple operational tours of duty, as well as two years in the Royal Household as Equerry to TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. Peter is now a Director at PwC and Chief of Staff to the global leader of PwC's Deals business. He is also on the board of a number of charities, including as Chair of the Royal National College for the Blind
Charles Hardaker

Treasurer
Charles served with The Queen’s Gurkha Engineers for 8 years, leading troops on operations in the UK, Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East. He then joined Citi working in technology and product development in the Investment Banking division and Citi Ventures; where he worked for over 4 years and was an avid Citi Salutes committee member. He is now Managing Director at Ebury a fast-growing payments Fintech as Head of Lending and Defence.
Laurence Whittingham

Head of Recruitment
Laurence spent 7 years in the British Army serving in The Queen’s Royal Lancers. During his career he completed two operational tours of Afghanistan as well as serving in Eastern Europe, Canada, Australia, and the UK. He joined Citi in 2015 through their veterans programme and now works on the London trading floor as part the Western Europe Corporate FX business. Laurence is part of the Citi London Salutes committee where he heads up military recruitment across London.
Ella Henderson

Comms and Marketing co-Lead
Ella specialises in corporate reputation management and has worked across sectors, with particular expertise in the financial and professional services sector. She is currently a Senior Consultant at Nepean, a management consultancy specialising in reputation management and strategic communications, and draws on her professional experience to support City Veterans with all communications activity.
Ben Watson

Secretary/Chief of Staff
Ben spent 4 years as an Officer in the British Army, serving within 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. During this time, he deployed on various multi-national exercises with 16 Air Assault Brigade and was employed as both a Command Post Officer and a Gun Position Officer.
He is currently working at Barclays
Freddie Siswick

Comms and Marketing co-Lead
Freddie left the military in 2018 having served 7 years in the Army with the Royal Artillery. During his military career he deployed to Afghanistan, Estonia and undertook several exercises in Canada. Upon leaving the military Freddie joined the KPMG Military Internship which he was introduced to through a City Veterans networking event. After a series of roles in audit and public sector transformation he is now a Senior Manager in KPMG’s Cyber Security team.