Executive

Our team serve in an individual capacity and in no way represent any organisation, company or political party with which they may be otherwise associated.

🇬🇧 Frank Slevin, Chair

Frank is a founding Director of UKNCC and a seasoned chairman and board advisor. During his career he has worked as a banker in regional and global roles and has extensive experience in the Far East and the Americas. Frank lived in Hong Kong for 17 years working at the forefront of the emergence of Chinese companies onto the international stage from the 1990’s. He has operated as adviser on foreign investment into China and Chinese investment overseas. Formerly, he was Chairman of House of Fraser and Hamleys, where he navigated culturally contrasting ownership and managerial styles. He also chairs British Cycling.

🇬🇧 Ollie Shiell, Chief Executive

Ollie is a founding Director and Chief Executive of UKNCC. He served as China Ambassador for the Ditchley Foundation 2018-22 and was founding executive of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business in Europe 2011-15. He was Director of Development and Corporate Relations at Oxford University, Saïd Business School from 2004-11. A graduate of the RNCM, he speaks Mandarin. Board experience includes London Symphony Orchestra, Social Bite and China-Britain Business Council. Ollie has worked on China related education and dialogue for over a decade.

🇬🇧 Andrew Cainey, Director

Andrew is a founding Director of UKNCC and has over 25 years’ experience advising companies and governments on China. Previous positions include Managing Partner of Booz & Company’s Greater China operations, Partner-in-charge for Asian Government Advisory with Tony Blair Associates and Partner leading the Asia-Pacific Financial Institutions Practice of Boston Consulting Group. He is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI and a non executive director of Schroder Asian Total Return Investment Company PLC. A graduate of Harvard Business School and Cambridge University he speaks French, German, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

🇬🇧 David Percival MBE, Director

David is a founding Director of UKNCC and Chairman of the Manchester-China Forum. He spent over 10 years in China both as a UK diplomat and in the private sector. He has been directly involved in over $7 billion in deal flow from China to UK across several sectors: including education, real estate, infrastructure and M&A. Between 2008-12, David was Director of the UK Governments Investment Network across China and Senior British Commercial Consul, overseeing UK Government relations with over 400 Chinese companies and advising UK Prime Minister and Chancellor. David was Vice-Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce, Shanghai for 6 years. In 2011, David was made a Member of the British Empire for his role as the UK's Commercial Director to Shanghai World Expo 2010.

🇬🇧 Charlie Du Cane, Associate Director

Charlie has spent 15 years in the shipping industry largely working in and with China, where he lived from 2007 to 2020. His career has focused on selling shipping services to Chinese companies, as well as manging the onshore presence of various international maritime groups in China. He is now working in London helping build a UK based ship-owning business. He is also an angel investor and has been active in the non-profit sector in China. He is a regular contributor to various professional and current affairs publications on politics, business and China.

🇺🇸 Sam Waldo, Associate Director

10+ years experience building organisations as an entrepreneur. He graduated with a BA in Economics and East Asian Languages & Cultures from Columbia University and was recognised by Forbes Under 30 as a leading Social Entrepreneur. He earned his MBA from Cambridge University as a Beyond Profit Scholar. Sam‘s role at UKNCC is to support the business planning, operations and learning and development of the team.

🇬🇧 Dr. Paul Jefferiss, Programme Leader, Climate Change and Sustainability

Paul has over 30 years’ executive, non-executive and advisory experience on energy and climate change in government, the private sector, NGOs and academia. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Carbon Trust and recently stepped down as bp’s global Head of Policy and Partnerships, where he managed the company’s positions and relationships on energy, climate and the environment for over a decade. Previously, he worked as Executive Director of the Green Alliance in London and as Energy Programme Director at the Union of Concerned Scientists in the US. He has advised the Clinton and Blair governments on energy and climate policy and was a UK Regulator of Renewable Fuels. He has given evidence on energy and climate to numerous Parliamentary committees. He has degrees from Cambridge, Harvard and Tufts, where he lectured on Environmental Management for UNEP. He was honoured by Her Majesty the Queen as Pioneer to the Life of the Nation for services to the environment.

🇨🇳 Wenjing GU, Senior Project Lead, Climate Change and Sustainability

Wenjing has over a decade’s experience on sustainability and climate change both within the Chinese university system and with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Through her work she made significant contributions to the establishment of The Green Belt and Road Investor Alliance and the China-Africa Environmental Cooperation Centre. Wenjing holds a BA in Chinese Language and Literature from East China Normal University and an MA in English Language Teaching with a Specialism in Information Communication Technology (ICT) from the University of Warwick, UK.