John Spearman steps down; Edward Guinness appointed Chairman (22/03/2020)
Draper & Dash (D&D) today announced that the Board of Directors recently met and agreed that due to personal reasons John Spearman has decided to step down as Chairman of the Board with immediate effect. Edward Guinness, Non-Executive Director and GAM Investor has been appointed by the Board to succeed John as Chairman of Draper & Dash.
John, who was the founding Chief Executive of Classic FM has chosen to stand down as Chairman so that he can focus on his growing responsibilities across his investment portfolio. He will continue to serve as a Non-Executive Director of Draper & Dash. John said: “It has been a huge honour to serve as Chairman of Draper & Dash and I am very proud of the work we continue to do, as a truly purpose-driven company. My decision to step down has been a difficult one to make but I look forward to seeing Draper & Dash go from strength to strength under Edward as Chairman.”
Edward Guinness has served on the Draper & Dash Board since April 2019. Edward has been very active and key support force as a director on our Board. Edward also represents Guinness Asset Management’s investors interests on the Board. He has been with Guinness Asset Management since January 2006. He is part of the firm’s senior management team and was a founder of the firm’s private equity investment business. Guinness Asset Management have made private equity investments in a wide range of companies including in the healthcare and software sectors.
Previously, Edward worked at Tiedemann Investment Group and HSBC Investment Bank. Edward was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read engineering and management studies.
Edward said: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank John for his strong leadership and the contribution he has made as Chairman. I am very proud to have been asked to succeed John and I look forward to working with the Board and the Draper & Dash leadership team to support the company’s continued growth.”
Draper & Dash’s Founder and CEO Orlando said: “John has been a close friend and a great mentor for the past three years and I look forward to his continued support on the Board. Since joining the board Ed has been very supportive of the leadership team and me. With his distinguished career history to date, we are confident Ed will be a fervent and adept ambassador for Draper & Dash. I look forward to working with him as the new Chairman”.