Board of Directors

Douglas is Group Investor Relations Director at Lloyds Banking Group, having led the team since 2014 and been a senior member of the team at Lloyds Bank and subsequently Lloyds Banking Group since 2007. Prior to joining the Investor Relations team Douglas held management positions within Group Strategy, Group Risk and Private Banking having initially joined Lloyds Bank on the graduate development programme. Douglas was elected to the Board of the IR Society in 2016.

Bethany has been Director of Investor Relations at Dr. Martens Plc since its IPO in February 2021. Prior to this Bethany held the same role at Domino’s Pizza Plc and N Brown Group Plc. Bethany previously worked as a sell-side analyst covering European General Retail at both Berenberg and Investec, and for capital markets advisory firm Makinson Cowell. She is a CFA charterholder.

Rob joined Inchcape plc, the leading global automotive distributor, as Head of IR in April 2023, have previously been at Plus500, a global fintech group, which he joined in May 2020. Prior to that, Rob spent 3 years as Head of IR at Inmarsat plc, a satellite operator, before which he was Head of Global Investor relations for Tokyo-listed Dentsu Inc, following their acquisition of Aegis plc in 2013, where was Head of IR. Before that, Rob had senior IR roles for Lonmin Plc, a platinum mining business, and G4S plc, a security services company. Before moving into in-house IR, Rob worked for a number of financial communications consultancies.

Holly is Head of IR at the FTSE 100 group Diploma plc. She has held senior finance and corporate communications in-house and advisory roles, most recently at financial and corporate communications consultancy, Citigate Dewe Rogerson (CDR), following 15 years in in-house finance, corporate communications and investor relations roles in the high-profile UK public transport sector. Holly is Chair of the Education Committee, and has previously been a member of the Society’s Finance and Best Practice Committees. She completed the IR Society’s prestigious DELIVER programme in early 2021. Holly is an ACCA qualified accountant.

Matt was most recently Vice Chairman of UK Investment Banking at UBS, having previously worked at Credit Suisse as Co-Head of UK Investment Banking and Corporate Broking. Matt started his career at Credit Suisse in 1997 where he worked until 2010 before spending 10 years at Deutsche Bank where he ran the Corporate Broking business. Over the years, Matt has advised companies across all sectors and market caps, including Bunzl, CCH, Halma, Intertek, Inchcape, Aston Martin, Barratt Developments, Carphone Warehouse, Carpetright, Imperial Brands, Diageo, IAG, ITV, RB, Stagecoach and Talktalk. 

Claire joined SEGRO as head of IR in 2018. Prior to this she spent 10 years working in corporate access origination roles at first Goldman Sachs and then Exane BNP Paribas with a focus on banks, insurance and real estate. She started her career on the equity graduate scheme at Goldman Sachs.

Daniel’s experience is in advising corporates on improving dialogue with investors, engagement with key stakeholders and effectively communicating their purpose and ability to create sustainable value to the outside world. Daniel and is a member of the QCA Governance Expert Group and a CSE Certified Sustainability Practitioner. He also holds the Certificate in Investor Relations and frequently runs thought leadership campaigns in both the corporate comms and sustainability space.

Julian Smith has worked in the capital markets and investor relations ecosystems for over 25 years. He is currently MD at BRR Media, a leading agency specialising in helping companies to create engaging online videos and live events for investor relations and critical stakeholder communications worldwide. Prior to joining BRR Media, Julian worked in investment banking for 18 years, both on transactions and continuing advisory mandates across different teams in M&A, equity capital markets

Matt is CEO at the Investor Relations Society, where he is responsible for the delivery of the Society's strategic and operational objectives. Prior to joining the Society, Matt held senior roles for representative membership organisations within financial and professional services, including UK Finance, the Chartered Insurance Institute, and TheCityUK. Matt is a Non-Executive Director at the Association of Democratic Services Officers (ADSO) and has an MBA from Bayes Business School.