James Gardiner has worked for many years in business banking. His last role in a commercial bank was from 2010 to 2018 as Head of External Affairs for RBS/Nat West interacting with HMT, BEIS, Bank of England, British Business Bank and UK Finance and sitting on various external Boards related to SME Banking.
After leaving RBS, James worked during 2019/20 as a Strategic Advisor to Scottish Government during the design and build phase of Scottish National Investment Bank. During 2020, James was the Chief Investment Officer for Innovate UK and was a Director of Innovate UK Loans Ltd providing patient capital to Innovation driven scale-ups across all sectors bringing new technologies and products to market.
James has several years’ experience as a Non-Exec Director and since 2012 has been the Deputy-chair of RBS Social & Community Capital’s Investment Committee providing lending solutions to charities and not-for-profit organisations creating social impact.
James runs a small company providing consultancy / advisory help to scale up businesses and also owns a small residential property letting business.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Banker Institute and holds an MBA.