Advisory Board

Ian Filby

Ian Filby was appointed Non-Executive Chairman at Pendragon in 2021 following eight years as Chief Executive Officer at DFS plc. He is also a member of the British Retail Consortium Board and Chairman of the British Retail Consortium Policy Board, Trustee of Pennies charity, Chairman of Her Spirit and Director of IFF Life and Business Solutions Ltd.

Ian has more than 40 years’ retail experience, primarily at Alliance Boots, where his last two roles were Retail Brand Development Director and Trading Director. He has also held the roles of Non Executive Chairman of Joules, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Nectar and Non-Executive Chairman of Shoe Zone plc.

Henry L Gewanter

Henry L Gewanter, MA (Cantab), FCIB, FCIPR, FIDM, MCIM, FRSA is Managing Director of Positive Profile and one of the UK’s leading corporate and financial communications consultants, with particular expertise in media relations. An expert in disaster containment and control, he successfully handled high-profile crisis management projects including the Blue Arrow trials, the Maxwell pension scandal and the Split Capital Investment Trust scandal, as well as a number of corporate, financial, regulatory and administrative disasters.  His more recent work includes exposing the MPs’ expenses scandal.

His unusually wide-ranging experience includes, amongst other things, banking, finance, investment, retail, real estate, marketing, advertising and public relations. Henry is a serial entrepreneur and his board experience includes Chairing both commercial companies, registered charities and voluntary sector organisations and he has been mentoring business leaders in a wide range of industries for many years.  His hobbies include Ancient Rome, fossils, minerals and meteorites and he is well-known as a lively and entertaining public speaker.

Lindsay Harvey

Paula Mitchell

Paula Mitchell helps companies create happier employment, not only because of the social feel-good factor, but because happier employees are more productive, innovative and provide better customer satisfaction. Her current role is as Co-founder of The Condor Collective, an employment consultancy that helps companies shape their employee experience to boost their potential and results. Prior to this, her experience is based on founding a recruitment business in 2008 which grew to 60 staff and £15m turnover in its first 5 years, specialising in middle tier management and C suite positions in the construction industry. Having sold her first business in 2018, Paula then wrote a book on creating happier employment and began curating the products and services of Condor. Paula thrives on the opportunity to coach other business owners, particularly on topics around employees and teams, and loves offering the external perspective and objectivity that is so imperative to keep business fresh, challenged and inspired.  

Lars Klawitter

Lars recently retired as Managing Director of InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s mobility business and venture capital arm. Lars has been in senior roles in the tech industry for over 20 years.

In 1994, whilst studying computer science, he co-founded ASK, a digital imagining company and by 1999 he was CTO at Munich based digital signage startup friendlyway AG. In 2002 Lars moved into his first role in the automotive industry at BMW, working on large-scale IT projects. This led him to  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, where he served as Chief Information Officer, later heading up its Bespoke business.

Lars is also a successful angel investor and non-executive board member at several start-ups. He has a keen interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies and in 2015 he served on the board of  Directors at the Ethereum Foundation, the governing body of what grew to be the world’s second largest crypto asset by market capitalisation.

Carol Duncumb

Carol Duncumb is an experienced and dynamic business leader with a successful track record of leading her first MBO at the age of 34 and exiting with a 22 times multiple at the age of 40. 

As a former CEO of a public company, angel investor, business mentor, and NED, Carol has a wealth of experience in executive leadership and entrepreneurship and shares her personal journey offering valuable insights into building a successful business.