Sir Damon Marcus Buffini (born May 1962) is a British businessman, deputy chair of the

BBC Board The BBC Board is the governing board of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The board replaced the BBC Trust in April 2017. The chair and four non-executive members representing the four nations are appointed by the King-in-Council The Kin ...

and chair of the BBC Commercial Board. He was formerly head of the

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

company

Permira Permira Holdings Limited is a British global investment firm specialised in buyouts, growth funds, equity funds, and credit funds. Founded in 1985 as part of Schroders, it became independent in 1996. Operating as Permira since 2001, the company ...

and governor of the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

Education and early life

Born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in 1962, the son of an African-American serviceman and a British woman, he was educated in Leicester and graduated with a degree in law from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, and has an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

Buffini worked for

L.E.K. Consulting L.E.K. Consulting is a global strategy consulting firm based in London and Boston. Founded in 1983 by three partners from Bain & Company, L.E.K. focuses on corporate strategy, marketing and sales, mergers and acquisitions, and operations. It p ...

, and under the firm's scholarship scheme undertook an MBA from Harvard Business School. On return to the UK he joined Imperial Group working as a management consultant, before being recruited by Jon Moulton (now head of rival firm Better Capital), in 1988 to join

Schroders Schroders plc is a British multinational asset management company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1804, it employs over 6,000 people worldwide in 38 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It is traded on ...

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

team, known then as Schroder Ventures Europe. Buffini became a partner in 1992, and was promoted to managing partner of the UK business in 1999, and managing partner in 2000, just before he led a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management- and/or leveraged buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...

group and renamed the firm Permira. Buffini took home £3.2 million plus bonuses in 2004. In November 2021 he was appointed as a non-executive director of the

, effective from 1 January 2022, and subsequently also as chair of the BBC's commercial board. In December 2022 the BBC Board created the honorary title of deputy chair to be held

ex-officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ''List of Latin phrases (E)#ex officio, ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the off ...

by the chair of the BBC commercial board, with Buffini assuming the title on 9 December 2022.

Other

Buffini was also a non-executive board member of

SVG Capital SVG Capital () was a leading British private equity and investment management business. Headquartered in London, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The business was established in 1996 to acquire the private equity interests of ...

plc and chairman and co-founder of the Social Business Trust. Buffini established The Buffini Chao Foundation with his wife, Lady Deborah Buffini, in 2005. He is a main board member of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and a trustee of the Royal Anniversary Trust, which administers The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education. In September 2012 Buffini was appointed to the board of governors at The Wellcome Trust. In July 2020, the UK Government announced Buffini as chair of the Culture Recovery Board, an administrative body tasked with managing the £1.57bn

Culture Recovery Fund The Culture Recovery Fund is a grants programme issued by the UK Government as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund aims to financially support cultural organisations in England (such as theatres, museums, and music venues) which had bec ...

intended to protect UK arts and heritage assets during the COVID-19 crisis. Buffini was appointed Chair of the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

in 2016.

Recognition

Buffini was ranked first in the men's Top 10 of the 2007 ''

Powerlist The Powerlist is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The Powerlist is not lim ...

'', a publication ranking the most influential Black Britons. Buffini's influence has also been recognised in Business, having ranked number three by the Times Power 100 for people who hold sway over British Business. Boasting power and influence, together with a personal fortune of between £100m and £200m. Buffini was appointed to then Prime Minister

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

's business advisory panel. Buffini was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 2016 Birthday Honours for voluntary and charitable services.

Personal life

Married to a solicitor, Deborah ( Chao), the couple have three children and a family home in

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...

and a city flat in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

. Buffini plays tennis and golf, football for a local amateur side, and supports

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffini, Damon Marcus 1962 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British businesspeople English people of African-American descent English people of American descent Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from Leicester Private equity and venture capital investors Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Schroders people BBC Board members