Our Board members’ significant track records span UK and international organisations, including leading consultancy firms and some of the most high-profile financial services brands. More specifically, they have a wealth of direct experience in driving businesses to achieve operational excellence in the areas of governance, compliance and complaints.
In addition, the Board have direct regulatory experience, as well as expertise drawn from the corporate finance and professional services sectors.
The team are passionate about helping firms enhance their reputation with their customers, people and regulators. They are also driven to instil a positive and agile culture across Huntswood that inspires the flexible, dedicated and collaborative approach to clients’ needs for which our business is renowned.
Click on the images below to see a more detailed description of each Board member’s background.
Meet the Board
Lord Brownlow CVO DL
Founder
David Brownlow is a British entrepreneur, philanthropist and member of The House of Lords.
After David graduated from Newcastle Polytechnic, having read Economics, he spent two years as a Policeman with Thames Valley Police based in Slough. He then became a recruitment consultant and eight years later, in 1996, co-founded Huntswood, which is a specialist resourcing and consultancy firm focussed on Governance, Risk and Compliance .
Still owning Huntswood, in 2013 David co-founded his second business, Havisham. This business is a trading and investment group with interests in Travel, House Building, Fashion, Commercial and Residential property letting, Pubs and Restaurants, Recruitment, a Technology and Education Platform, three Financial Services apps for consumers and Documentary Film Making. The company trades across The United Kingdom, Toronto, Singapore, Sydney and Shanghai.
David takes pride in the work of his charitable giving; especially his own ‘David Brownlow Charitable Foundation’. all of which concentrates on helping individuals and communities where there is an element of disadvantage.
As well as being a Trustee of DBCF, David is
- a Patron of The Prince of Wales Hospice in Pontefract
- a Patron of The Royal Osteoporosis Society
- a Founding Patron of The Royal Albert Hall’s President’s Circle
- a Founding Patron of Thames Hospice
- a Vice-President of Berkshire Community Foundation
- a Patron of The Royal Drawing School
- a Life Patron of The Landmark Trust
In January 2018 David was appointed as a Deputy to The Lord Lieutenant of The Royal County of Berkshire.
In Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours’ List of 2018 HM The Queen appointed David a Commander of The Royal Victorian Order (CVO).
In the Resignation Honours’ List of The Rt Hon Theresa May MP HM The Queen created David a Peer of the Realm and he sits in The House of Lords as Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row in The Royal County of Berkshire.
For many years David has given his commercial experience as a business consultant to a number of organisations without charge; including:
- February 2020 appointed a Trustee of The Royal Albert Hall Trust
- October 2018 appointed as an Ambassador for The Royal Albert Hall’s 150th Anniversary which, occurs in 2021
- June 2017 to July 2020 Vice-Chairman of The Conservative Party responsible for Campaigning and Incumbency
- April 2013 to July 2017, as a Director of Community Capital Limited
- September 2016 to November 2017, as a Trustee of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust
- May 2013 to November 2017, initially as a Trustee and then as Chairman of The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community
- April 2013 to June 2017, as a Trustee at Dumfries House
- June 2008 to May 2012, initially as a Trustee and then as Chairman of The Foundation for Integrated Health
In 2005 David was named the national ‘Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year’ in the Ernst & Young / Sunday Times / Coutts Awards. In 2007 David was named ‘Best Chief Executive’ recognising his ‘outstanding service to compliance and regulation.’
Read David’s interview with The Business Magazine.
Matthew Bonfield
Chairman
Matthew serves the company and its shareholders in his role of Chairman of the Group’s main Board and Risk and Assurance Committee.
Having originally joined Huntswood in November 2007, Matthew was appointed to the Board in January 2010 in his role as Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, he was responsible for the financial, risk, HR, IT and legal aspects of the Group. During this period Matthew also held the role of Chief Executive of two subsidiary companies, Conduit People Management Ltd and Conduit Accounting Services Ltd, and oversaw the successful sale of the two companies in May 2015.
Matthew was subsequently appointed to the role of CEO in October 2017. Following Martin Dodd's appointment to the role, Matthew then worked alongside Martin as Executive Chairman where he continued to support and work on the delivery of the strategic ambition of the company. In January 2022, Matthew became a Non-Executive Director taking on the role of the Group’s Chairman.
After graduating with a BSc degree in finance and management from Aston University, Matthew began his career qualifying as a chartered accountant in PwC’s Assurance and Business Advisory Service area. He has since brought a diverse range of experience to Huntswood - including extensive commercial finance experience from working in senior roles for EDS, O2 Airwave and Virgin Media.
Matthew is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Matthew is married with two children. In between spending time with his family, Matthew is a member of Marlow and District Round Table, a local voluntary charity fundraising and social group. He enjoys football (playing, and also coaching his son’s local junior team), running, and keenly follows most other sports, particularly rugby and cricket as well as being a Liverpool FC season-ticket holder.
Martin Dodd
Chief Executive Officer
Martin has held a variety of senior roles, including being responsible for complaint handing at Lloyds Banking Group, where he led a 50% reduction in volume over an 18 month period. As Managing Director of Connect, a Lloyds Banking Group company, he was responsible for 7,500 people and over 11 locations, connecting with customers across multiple channels and leading the back-end processing operations teams.
In his role as Lloyds Bank’s Group Ambassador for the Midlands, Martin helped businesses in the region to prosper. He has also been a non-executive director of Motability Operations, the company responsible for delivering the motability scheme to over 600,000 disabled people.
Outside of work, Martin is married to Tracey and has two daughters, Summer and Taylor. He is a keen Aston Villa fan and enjoys spending his free time playing and watching football, cricket and golf.
Donna Knight
Chief Financial Officer
Donna is responsible for overseeing the finance function, ensuring that Huntswood is a financially compliant company.
After graduating with a First-Class BSc (Hons) degree in Mathematics at Plymouth University, Donna started out her career qualifying as a Chartered Accountant at Saffery Champness, where she worked in the Business Advisory Team.
After becoming ACA qualified, Donna was the Financial Accountant at Barracuda Group for three years, before joining Huntswood in 2010. Before her board appointment, she headed up Huntswood’s Commercial Finance division, before moving on to become Finance Director in 2017.
She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Donna likes to spend a lot of her time outside with her family, is a keen runner, and plays hockey for Sonning Hockey Club.
Ben Rawson
Non-Executive Director
Ben is a Non-Executive Director of Huntswood, having joined the business in 2010.
He is currently the Managing Director of Havisham Group and works alongside David Brownlow on a number of David's commercial endeavours. This has led Ben into a range of business and philanthropic initiatives.
Prior to the Havisham Group, Ben graduated from Bristol Business School with an Honours degree in International Business Studies with Spanish, having spent one year at Granada University.
Ben's principal interests include music, travelling, cars and following Manchester United.
Bardia Sohi
Non-Executive Director
Bardia is a Non-Executive Director of Huntswood, having joined the business in 2021.
He is currently the CFO of Havisham Group, where he oversees the finance, tax and legal aspects of the investment portfolio and acts as a Finance Operations Advisor to the portfolio companies.
After graduating with a BSc (Hons) degree in accounting and finance from University of Warwick, Bardia began a career in accountancy. He is a commercially-minded CFO with over 10 years of experience in financial services, technology and private equity sectors.
Bardia is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, as well as the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association.
Outside of work, Bardia enjoys travelling, socialising with family and friends and exercising.
