Stephen Brown

Stephen Brown is CEO of Avarda, a fintech firm providing consumer credit and payment services, and holds SMF1 & SMF3 under the FCA’s Senior Managers Regime. With a career spanning banking and financial services — including senior regulated roles at RBS, Harrods Bank, Alba Bank, Bevan and DF Capital — he brings particular expertise in building and growing challenger banks and navigating complex regulatory environments.

Stephen has been committed to education governance since 2013, having served eight years as a Governor at Cuddington Croft Primary School before joining the GLF Schools Board of Trustees. As a Trustee, he brings strategic and commercial insight drawn from his executive career in banking and financial services, applying the same rigour and independent challenge to Trust governance that he exercises in his professional roles. He sits on both the Remuneration Committee and the Audit & Risk Committee, contributing financial expertise to two of the Board’s most critical governance functions.

Date of Appointment: 1st September 2021

Appointed by Members