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Graham Bell

Risk Leader. Board and Committee Chair. Author

overview

Chair of the Board of Trustees at one of the largest refugee charities in the UK. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF) provides advice and support to individuals and families who seek asylum or live as refugees.

Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee at Transport for the North (TfN), a statutory body (wholly funded by the Department for Transport) which serves government by representing the interests of 16 million people across the North of England.

Member of the Board of Trustees at the Frank Field Education Trust (FFET), a purpose-driven, multi-academy trust seeking to achieve social justice by providing excellence in education.

Oversight lead for strategic risks and business planning for one of the UK’s largest savings and retirement providers. Responsible for the Group's risk strategy.

Previous committee membership at the British Standards Institution (BSI) and Fellowship of the Institute for Strategy, Resilience & Security (ISRS) at University College London (UCL).

Author of a full length risk management handbook, published by Kogan Page (2020). Journal articles published by Emerald and the University of Manchester.

Over 35 years' international experience in management, assurance and consultancy across a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, telecoms and energy, and most recently in transport and financial services. This includes leadership roles with a FTSE top 25 company, a track record of successful project delivery and work assignments in the US and Middle East.

Experienced trainer, having designed and delivered institute-approved corporate learning programmes and a unique, degree-level Ofqual-regulated qualification course.

key achievements

Boards and Committees - Harmonising and focusing effort, improving assurance provision, promoting cognitive diversity, prioritising impact and effectiveness.

Body of Knowledge - Making a lasting contribution to our understanding of risk, sharing that with others and bringing it to life in a variety of settings.

Outstanding Delivery - A strong record of achieving targets and implementing industry-leading change projects for a range of clients and organisations.

applied skills

The ability and willingness to challenge conventional thinking, offer novel and effective solutions and deliver measurable value to Boards and Executive Management.

Professional Experience

2025current

Chair of the Board of Trustees

Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF), a £1m+ charity and one of the largest refugee charities in the country.
2024current

Member of the Board of Trustees and of the Risk & Audit Committee

Frank Field Education Trust (FFET), a multi-academy trust operating in the North West of England and West Midlands.

2021current

Independent Member and Chair of the Audit & Governance Committee

Transport for the North (TfN), a statutory body established by Act of Parliament in 2018 and funded by the Department for Transport.

Leading efforts to improve the committee's impact and effectiveness, including its handling of risk matters, during a period of significant change.

20212024

Risk Strategy roles

FTSE 100 Financial Services Company and the UK's largest long-term savings and retirement business

Researching, recommending and implementing best practice on managing the Group's strategic risks.

Oversight lead and author of the Group's risk strategy.

20182021

Director

Management Consultancy and Training

Specialising in resilience, risk management and assurance. Delivering unique corporate learning programmes and the only qualification course on organisational resilience recognised by Ofqual. Clients included Virgin Group and HM Forces.

20022018

Specialist and Leadership roles

FTSE 25 Utility Company

Assurance, risk, project management and safety roles during a 15 year career, which culminated in a senior leadership, Group-level role.

20002002

Project Manager

Technology Company

Process redesign and performance improvement projects, including the design of a new Finance Shared Services organisation covering 2300 staff and implementation of European single currency (Euro) across multiple finance operations.

Pre-2000

Management consultancy, following from customer and quality roles within manufacturing