Group Board
Lloyd Dorfman
Chairman
Lloyd Dorfman is Chairman of the Travelex Group.
Having briefly sampled the bar and investment banking, he started his own currency exchange business in 1976 from one small shop in central London. Following the £440m acquisition of Thomas Cook’s Global & Financial Services business in March 2001, the Travelex Group has now become the world’s largest non-bank foreign exchange business.
In 2001 Lloyd Dorfman was the winner of the Consumer Business Category in the UK “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards sponsored by Ernst & Young, Citibank and The Times. In 2002 he received the British American Chamber of Commerce’s UK Entrepreneurial Award, and the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Free Enterprise Award.
He is a Non-Executive Director of M & C Saatchi plc, a Governor of St Paul’s School, London, a Patron and Deputy Chairman of The Prince’s Trust Development Board, and an Honorary Fellow of St Peters College, Oxford.
Lloyd Dorfman was educated at St Paul’s School, and did not go to university. He is married with three children and lives in London.
Ian Meakins
Chief Executive Officer
Ian Meakins joined Travelex as Chief Executive Officer in January 2007 and is a member of the Group Board and chair of the Executive Committee.
Prior to this, Mr Meakins was Chief Executive Officer of Alliance UniChem plc until its merger with Boots in July 2006 and he was previously President, European Major Markets and Global Supply for Diageo plc. He has served as a non-executive director of MMO2 plc and London International Group plc and is non-executive Chairman of Trader Media Group. Earlier in his career he founded a strategic management consultancy after starting his career at Procter and Gamble.
John Martin
Chief Financial Officer
John Martin joined Travelex in March 2006 as the Chief Financial Officer of the Group. Previously he worked for Hays plc, which he joined in 2000 as Group Financial Controller. He was appointed Group Finance Director of Hays plc in 2003 at the start of the process to transform that business from a diverse business services group into a focused specialist recruitment business. Prior to that he was Group Controller of the Stationery Office Group Ltd, a private equity backed company established to acquire HMSO on its privatisation in 1996, until its demerger into four independent businesses in 1999. He is a Chartered Accountant and worked for Arthur Andersen from 1987 to 1996 in audit, financial consulting and corporate finance.
Stephan Wilcke
Non Executive Director
Stephan Wilcke joined Apax Partners in 2000 where he specialises in financial services. Prior to this he was a Director and Partner with Oliver, Wyman & Co, the specialist financial services strategy consultancy, in London, Frankfurt, and New York. He represents Apax Partners on the boards of Azimut and Independer.
Mr. Wilcke graduated from Oxford University with a Masters in Politics, Philosophy and Economics where he was a scholar of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes.
Peter Birch
Non Executive Director
Peter G Birch CBE is Chairman of Land Securities plc and Kensington Group plc. He is the senior non-executive director of Trinity Mirror plc, a non-Executive Director of Sainsbury’s Bank plc, an advisor to N M Rothschild & Sons Limited and a Pension Fund Trustee of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.
Mr Birch was Chief Executive of Abbey National plc from 1984 to 1998. He held various positions with Gillette Industries Ltd from 1965 to 1984, including Managing Director Gillette UK Ltd and Group General Manager, Africa, Middle East and Eastern Europe. From 1958 to 1965 he worked for the Nestlé Company in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia.
Lord Stevens
Non Executive Director
Lord John Stevens, was Commissioner of Police until February 2005 having served 42 years in the Police Service. He holds an Honours Degree in Law, a Masters Degree in Philosophy, is a Doctor of Law and an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law. He is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge and was visiting Professor at City University New York.
Since 1992 Lord Stevens has been Patron of a North East Charity which has built schools and care centres for mentally and physically handicapped children. He is also the creator of Convoy 2000, a charity set up to improve the quality of life for Romanian orphans, Aids sufferers and disabled children. He was awarded the ‘Star of Romania’ by the President of Romania and the Rotary ‘Paul Harris Fellowship’ for his work.
Lord Stevens was knighted in Her Majesty’s New Year Honours 2000. He was made Deputy Lieutenant of London in 2001 and a Knight of St. John in 2002. Lord Stevens was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2002. He was also awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for distinguished service in 1991 and during his career has been commended on 27 occasions for outstanding detective ability and courage.
Gavin Laws
Non Executive Director
Gavin Laws has worked for Standard Chartered Bank for over thirty years ago, where he has undertaken a number of senior assignments both in London and overseas. He is currently Head of Governance Africa, MEPA, Europe and Americas and previously Regional Head of Consumer Banking, Africa, Northern Gulf & Levant
Mr Laws is a member of the Bank’s Executive Forum and served as non-executive director of Visa CEMEA from 2003 until 2007.
Mark Ransford
Non Executive Director
Mark Ransford joined Apax Partners in 2002 where he specialises in Financial and Business Services. Prior to this he worked for Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and Misys plc.
Mr Ransford graduated from Cambridge University with a BA (Hons) in Zoology and a PhD in Genetics. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD.
