Damon Buffini
Damon was educated at St John's College, University of Cambridge, where he read law, and at Harvard Business School, where he gained an MBA. He is a founding partner of Permira, a European private equity firm with global reach. He was managing partner from 1999 to 2007 and chairman from 2007 to 2010.
Under his leadership, Permira's funds under management grew from €1.9 billion to over €20 billion and the firm expanded its international network of offices from four to 12. Over the same period, Permira helped to grow and build numerous successful businesses across Europe, including Homebase, Inmarsat and global aviation services group Jet Aviation.
Damon is a co-founder of Social Business Trust, an initiative to grow social enterprises by using the knowledge, skills and capital of UK businesses thereby benefitting one million people in the UK. He is also a main board member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a trustee of the Royal Anniversary Trust, which administers The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education.