Former Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Ferguson plc; Non-Executive Portfolio
Richard’s most recent executive role was at Ferguson plc – renamed from Wolseley plc – where he held the roles of Group Company Secretary and General Counsel for ten years until 2018. A member of the Executive Committee, he held Group-wide responsibility for legal affairs, governance, sustainability (including the environmental improvement programme), enterprise risk management, insurance, compliance and product integrity. He was also involved in the development of health and safety practices and the information security programme.
Richard is engaged in a variety of activities. These include angel investing and he is a co-founder of a legal tech start-up. He is trustee of visual arts charities. Current roles include acting as lead investor of YUUWorld, co-founder of Top 3 Legal and chairman of Art Lights London.
Richard was Company Secretary and General Counsel at Corus Group plc, working closely on the contested takeover process that resulted in acquisition by Tata Steel and the subsequent integration. His earlier career was in the upstream oil and gas industry, at BG and at Agip (the exploration and production division of Eni) where he worked in Milan as General Counsel. Over his career he has worked on transactions, multi-party joint ventures and projects in Russia, Kazakhstan, Africa, Indonesia, China, Australia, Canada, the United States and most countries in Europe.
Richard qualified as a solicitor at Freshfields in London.
