Mary Elizabeth Francis (née George; born July 1948) is a former British civil servant who focussed primarily on financial and economic policy. She is a non-executive Director of Barclays plc and was a director of Valaris Limited. and PensionBee Group PLC where she is Senior Independent Director. Mary Francis is also a senior advisor to

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

, a member of the advisory council of the

Institute of Business Ethics The Institute of Business Ethics or IBE is a non-profit professional organisation based in London, which works to promote business ethics through consciousness raising and institutional collaborations nationwide and internationally. History The I ...

, a member of the Takeover Panel Appeal Board, and an ambassador for the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...

Early life and education

Growing up in

Petts Wood Petts Wood is a town in south-east London, England, previously located in the historic county of Kent. It lies south of Chislehurst, west of St Paul's Cray and Poverest, north of Orpington and Crofton, and east of Southborough and Bromley ...

, Kent, Francis was educated at Crofton Primary School and

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. Founded in 1741, it is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain, with ...

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of H ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She read history at Newnham College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Career

After graduating, Francis became a research assistant to Professor Max Beloff at

All Souls' College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

. She subsequently joined the Civil Service, and held successive posts in the Civil Service Department and

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

. She was seconded to investment bank Hill Samuel from 1984 to 1986, led one of the Treasury privatisation teams from 1986 to 1988, and had policy responsibility for European Union matters in the Treasury from 1988 to 1990. She a was Financial Counsellor in the

Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C. The British Embassy, Washington D.C. (alternatively in the US, Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C.) is the Charles III, British sovereign's diplomatic mission to the United States of America, representing the interests of the United ...

from 1990 to 1992, Private Secretary to Prime Minister

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

with responsibility for economic and business policy from 1992 to 1995, and Assistant/Deputy Private Secretary to The Queen from 1995 to 1999. Mary Francis became Director General of the

Association of British Insurers The Association of British Insurers, or ABI, is a trade association made up of insurance companies in the United Kingdom. History The ABI began in 1985 after several specialised insurance industry trade associations joined to form one trade associ ...

in 1999. From 2005 she held a number of non-executive directorships, including at the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

Centrica Centrica plc is a British  multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire, England. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers ...

(where she was Senior Independent Director),

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

Cable & Wireless Communications Cable & Wireless Communications Ltd operating as C&W Communications is a telecommunications company which has operations in the Caribbean and Central America. It is owned by Liberty Latin America and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, US. ...

and

Swiss Re Swiss Re Ltd is a Swiss reinsurance company founded in 1863 and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the world's largest reinsurers, as measured by gross premiums written. Swiss Re operates through around 80 offices in 29 countri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Mary 1948 births Deputy Private Secretaries to the Sovereign Assistant Private Secretaries to the Sovereign Living people Advisors to Chatham House Civil servants in HM Treasury Private secretaries in the British Civil Service Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge People educated at James Allen's Girls' School Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire