Ron Sandler
Encyclopedia
Early life
Sandler was born in BulawayoBulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
, Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
(now Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
) in 1952 and has an undergraduate degree in engineering from Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
and an MBA from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Career in the financial sector
Sandler was Chief Executive at Lloyd's of LondonLloyd's of London
Lloyd's, also known as Lloyd's of London, is a British insurance and reinsurance market. It serves as a partially mutualised marketplace where multiple financial backers, underwriters, or members, whether individuals or corporations, come together to pool and spread risk...
from 1995 until 1999. Sandler spent the period between October 1999 and March 2000 as a director and chief operating officer of NatWest bank, unsuccessfully attempting to defend it during its 1999 takeover, on a salary of £450,000. Sandler resigned following the takeover of NatWest bank by the Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
, joining the board of Computacenter
Computacenter
Computacenter plc is the parent company of a group of European companies which provide computer services to public and private sector customers. Despite the spelling of the word "center", it is a UK company based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its competitors include Fujitsu, Getronics, Capgemini and...
as a non-executive director on May 26, 2000. In March 2001, Sandler succeeded Computacenter
Computacenter
Computacenter plc is the parent company of a group of European companies which provide computer services to public and private sector customers. Despite the spelling of the word "center", it is a UK company based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its competitors include Fujitsu, Getronics, Capgemini and...
co-founder Philip Hulme
Philip Hulme
Philip William Hulme is the co-founder of Computacenter, one of the United Kingdom's largest computer businesses.- Career :Having graduated at Imperial College, London with a first class degree in engineering, Philip Hulme secured a Harkness Fellowship and joined the MBA Programme at Harvard...
as Chairman of the board. In June 2001 the then chancellor Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
asked Sandler to carry out a review of the savings industry, known as the Sandler Review
Sandler Review
In 2001 the United Kingdom Government asked Ron Sandler to:*Identify the competitive forces driving the retail financial services industry; and*Suggest policy responses to ensure that customers are well served.-Proposals:...
. The report, published in 2002, called for a simplified range of savings products with a reduced level of commission, but its conclusions were rejected by the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
.
Appointment to Northern Rock
He was appointed by the Treasury on 12 January 2008 to be the Chairman of Northern Rock; a position which he assumed on 18 February 2008, resigning from his role as Non-executive Chairman and member of the board at ComputacenterComputacenter
Computacenter plc is the parent company of a group of European companies which provide computer services to public and private sector customers. Despite the spelling of the word "center", it is a UK company based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its competitors include Fujitsu, Getronics, Capgemini and...
at the same time. His salary for Northern Rock was reported as £90,000 per month. Sandler is not domiciled for personal tax purposes in the United Kingdom, holding a German passport.
KiFin Limited
Ron Sandler is deputy chairman of Nathan KirshNathan Kirsh
Nathan Kirsh is a South African business magnate, with a property empire spanning the United Kingdom, Swaziland and Australia. He carries a Swazi passport. However, he also has residency status in the United Kingdom and the United States...
’s company KiFin Limited, which was recently the subject of media scrutiny following its failed bid for London-based property group Minerva (property firm)
Minerva (property firm)
Minerva plc is a London based British developer and property firm co-founded by the millionaire philanthropists Sir David Garrard and Andrew Rosenfeld. Garrard and Rosenfeld took the company public in 1996 and have now left the business....
In an interview with The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, Sandler said that the term “deputy chairman” was one of endearment, and he was merely an informal “sounding board” and advisor to Nathan Kirsh
Nathan Kirsh
Nathan Kirsh is a South African business magnate, with a property empire spanning the United Kingdom, Swaziland and Australia. He carries a Swazi passport. However, he also has residency status in the United Kingdom and the United States...
.