Patron: Lord Lee of Trafford – John Lee is regarded as one on the UK’s leading private investors, having bought his first shares sixty years ago. He was one of the earliest to recognise the long-term potential of PEPs (the forerunner of ISAs) when they were launched in 1987 and was judged to be the first ISA millionaire in 2003.
John has written over 250 articles for FT Money and has given numerous lectures and interviews on his investment philosophy as a long-term value investor. In 2014 Pearsons published his well-received book “How to Make a Million – Slowly: my guiding principles from a lifetime of successful investing”. In 2019 Grosvenor House published his primer for teenagers and young investors “Yummy Yoghurt: A First Taste of Stock Market Investment”. John is a Chartered Accountant with a wide experience of investment banking and business and is Patron of ShareSoc, the leading body lobbying and campaigning on behalf of private investors. From 1979-92 he was a Member of Parliament, and during this period he was both a Defence and Tourism Minister. A former High Sheriff of Manchester, he sits as a member of the House of Lords as Lord Lee of Trafford and lives in Richmond, Surrey.
Heather Benjamin (appointed May 2024). Following an executive career with Centrica, ultimately as Chief Procurement Officer, Heather has held a range of Chair and Non-Executive Director roles across private, public and voluntary organisations. She has been Chair of Air Ambulances UK and of Walsingham Support, which assists people with learning disabilities. She has worked for organisations with growth agendas across multiple sectors including financial services, water, the arts and the voluntary sector. Heather’s financial services experience includes serving as Senior Independent Director in the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company Ltd, which developed and implemented the programme for digitising cheque handling, settlement and clearing. She is an Independent NED for BlueLight Commercial, collaborating with police and fire forces across England and Wales to transform their commercial and procurement functions, a NED with Supply Chain Co-ordination Ltd, supporting NHS Trusts, and Vice President of The Leaders Club which networks with senior leaders.
Heather Benjamin (appointed May 2024). Following an executive career with Centrica, ultimately as Chief Procurement Officer, Heather has held a range of Chair and Non-Executive Director roles across private, public and voluntary organisations. She has been Chair of Air Ambulances UK and of Walsingham Support, which assists people with learning disabilities. She has worked for organisations with growth agendas across multiple sectors including financial services, water, the arts and the voluntary sector. Heather’s financial services experience includes serving as Senior Independent Director in the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company Ltd, which developed and implemented the programme for digitising cheque handling, settlement and clearing. She is an Independent NED for BlueLight Commercial, collaborating with police and fire forces across England and Wales to transform their commercial and procurement functions, a NED with Supply Chain Co-ordination Ltd, supporting NHS Trusts, and Vice President of The Leaders Club which networks with senior leaders.
Sam Bell (appointed March 2026) is the founder and CEO of Copia, a communications agency specialising in investor engagement for listed companies and asset managers. He has over 20 years’ experience working across communications, content, events and media within the capital markets. Sam is founder of Ticker, a platform that makes listed company regulatory news and disclosures more accessible and structured for individual investors. He is also co-organiser of the Investor Summit, a major conference that connects companies with individual, and professional investors. Sam is actively involved in the UK investor community and is a long-term private investor with a particular interest in improving access to company information and the general public’s engagement with investing.
Mike Dennis (appointed April 2014) has a wide range of managerial experience in processing and manufacturing industries ranging from oil production and refining to chemicals, industrial, medical and speciality gases. His functional experiences include strategy, B2B marketing, product development, sales, operations, business and project management. Since retiring from full time roles in the corporate world Mike has put his energies into growing ShareSoc’s membership base, managing his own investment portfolio, doing consultancy work, playing golf and climbing mountains.
Matthew Gray (appointed March 2026) brings extensive senior level experience in finance, governance, and organisational change. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, he has held leadership roles across the energy, technology and wellness events sectors with responsibilities spanning financial strategy, investment evaluation and major transformation programmes. He serves as a Trustee for a group of pension schemes and as Trustee Director and Chair of Finance for a grant- giving charity. At the charity he provides strategic financial leadership, oversees risk management frameworks and ensures the long- term stewardship of charitable assets. Matthew is a keen investor in UK equities and has a particular interest in supporting individuals at the early stages of their investing journey.
Bozena Michalowska Howells (appointed September 2024) qualified as a solicitor in 1995 and led Leigh Day’s nationally recognized Product Safety and Consumer Law Team until 2022. Boz has a proven track record in managing high-profile multi-party legal actions, including the landmark VW NOx Emissions Group Litigation. Her involvement with ShareSoc arose through her work on the Woodford Equity Income Fund case, where she collaborated with ShareSoc to advocate for retail investors. Bozena is passionate about protecting consumer rights and about empowering individuals through education and engagement.
Mark Northway (appointed April 2016) is an experienced practitioner in financial markets with wide ranging managerial and governance experience across credit, fixed income, equity and treasury markets, and associated cash and derivative instruments. His experience spans multiple disciplines including marketing, trading, investment and the management of complex financial and regulatory risk within a variety of vehicles and legal structures. Mark chaired ShareSoc from April 2016 to December 2021.
Thera Prins (appointed May 2026) has worked in retail financial services for more than 30 years, including the last decade as a UK CEO delivering products and services to individual investors. Her experience spans supporting frequent traders, executives, commercial nominee holders, employee shareholders, and investors with certificated holdings. Throughout her career, she has developed a strong passion for making personal finance, share ownership, and investing easier for individuals to understand, access, and engage with — particularly as rapid technological change continues to reshape customer expectations and industry standards.
Ram Sachdev (appointed February 2024) is an active investor who enjoys in-depth company research, specialising in US technology companies. His first career was in investment banking in the USA after which he founded, grew and successfully exited an e-commerce-based fashion business.
David Stredder (appointed February 2011) started as a sports journalist but decided to concentrate on his growing property management business from the age of 29. That business grew to be one of the largest in South London and was sold to an industry consolidator in the late nineties. Since then he has concentrated on his listed and unlisted investments and is an active small-cap investor. David was a founder and eventual chairman of the London Business Club and networking continues to play an important role with the regular monthly investor dinners and company presentations that he arranges in South East London.
Vijay Tohani (appointed February 2024) has over 25 years’ experience as a financial practitioner and portfolio manager in the global asset management industry. He has worked in London, Edinburgh and Singapore, and has experienced investment management practice and a variety of corporate cultures across the world. Vijay is now a full-time university lecturer teaching the next generation about finance, capital markets and investment. He has practical experience in Audit, Equity Research, Portfolio and Risk Management as well as UK Financial Regulation.
Amit Vedhara (appointed April 2019) has a background in Marketing and growing organisations. With over 25 years in industry and consulting, he has operated as a Marketing director and interim consultant establishing a track record of unlocking growth across multiple sectors in listed firms, turnarounds and private venture-backed firms. Amit has change leadership experience at board level in Marketing, Pricing and Product and has worked in both digital and more traditionally organised environments. Amit has been investing his entire adult life and takes a mix of contrarian and risk-weighted approaches to his stock picking in both quoted and unquoted companies
The photograph of Lord Lee is provided by the UK Parliament and is used under an Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) licence.