Sir Damon Marcus Buffini (born 1962) is a British businessman and governor of the

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

. He was formerly head of the

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

company

Permira Permira is a global investment firm. Founded in 1985, the firm advises funds with assets under management of €60+ billion. The Permira funds have made approximately 300 private equity investments in four key sectors: Technology, Consumer, Ser ...

Education and early life

Born in Leicester 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, and has an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from Harvard Business School.

Career

Buffini worked for L.E.K. Consulting, and under the firm's scholarship scheme undertook an MBA from Harvard Business School. On return to the UK he joined

Imperial Group Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...

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, founded in 1804. The company employs over 5,000 people worldwide in 32 locations around Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Headquartered in the City of London, it ...

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

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 group and renamed the firm Permira. Buffini took home £3.2 million plus bonuses in 2004.

Other

Buffini was also a non-executive board member of SVG Capital 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 and a trustee of the

Royal Anniversary Trust The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education are a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to universities and colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom. Uniquely it forms part of the Bri ...

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

. 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.

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 ...

'', 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 former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

's business advisory panel. Buffini was knighted 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 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 crossing point of the ...

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 nam ...

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

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 People from Leicester Private equity and venture capital investors Knights Bachelor Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Schroders people