Our governance

Details of UK Export Finance's organisation and management structure.


Management structure

The Chief Executive is responsible for all our activities as the department’s Accounting Officer, and is supported by the Executive Committee, the UK Export Finance Board and the Export Guarantees Advisory Council.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is our senior policy-making body and it is responsible for advising the Chief Executive in his role as the Accounting Officer in the ongoing management of our business. It is chaired by the Chief Executive, meets fortnightly and typically has between 6 and 10 items on each agenda.

Areas it advises on include:

  • corporate governance
  • the allocation of financial and human resources
  • operational decision making
  • organisational performance

The Executive Committee is responsible for advising the Chief Executive.

UK Export Finance Board

The UK Export Finance Board supports the Accounting Officer in the management of UK Export Finance through operational oversight, by providing advice, challenge and assurance. It meets at least 8 times per year, typically with a similar number of items on the agenda as the Executive Committee.

The Board advises the Accounting Officer on all matters of material importance to the department as defined in its Terms of Reference.

The Chairman and non-executive Directors of the Board make regular declarations as to any Directorships or substantial shareholdings they may hold.

A substantial shareholding is defined as shares in any one company worth more than £50,000, or more than 1% of the share capital of any company

Chairman and non-executive director – directorships

Member Position held
Noel Harwerth, Chairman, UK Export Finance One Savings Bank
  Scotia Bank Europe
  Department for Business and Trade
  Export Guarantees Advisory Council
Andrew Mitchell None
Candida Morley UK Government Investments
  Scottish National Investment Bank
Lawrence Weiss None
Kim Wiehl Women’s Business Development Council
  Advisory Board member of Thunderbird School of Global Management
  American Arbitration Association

Chairman and non-executive directors – shareholdings

Member Amount or %ge of holding Shareholding
Noel Harwerth, Chairman, UK Export Finance None None
Andrew Mitchell None None
Candida Morley None None
Lawrence Weiss £200,000 Kido One (Children’s nursery company)
  $158,000 Xhale Inc (Medical device company)
Kim Wiehl 50% Wiehl Family Property companies

Committee Publications

Publications relating to the Executive Committee and the UK Export Finance Board, including terms of reference and meeting minutes, are available here.

The Export Guarantees Advisory Council

The Export Guarantees Advisory Council is appointed by UK Export Finance’s ministers to provide advice to them on UK Export Finance matters. In practice, the Council focuses on the principles that should guide our operations, in particular around the following areas:

  • environmental impacts
  • anti-bribery & corruption
  • sustainability
  • disclosure

How we make decisions

We have a committee structure for advising on operational decision-making. Committees, rather than individuals, advise the decision-taker, who may be the Accounting Officer or someone delegated by the Accounting Officer.