David Smith
I’ve been a great admirer of the RNLI ever since learning about Grace Darling at school and feel honoured to be asked to be a Trustee. I really want to help the RNLI deliver on its future vision and will use my governance and corporate change experience to further this goal.
David trained as an economist and management accountant and is an experienced corporate officer, having a strong background in finance and governance. He spent 25 years in the automotive industry and was Chief Finance Officer (CFO) at Ford and Jaguar Land Rover respectively, as well as Group CFO for both Rolls-Royce and QinetiQ. During his early career, David spent 10 years overseas in Switzerland, the USA and Turkey. He also spent many years travelling around Europe, North America and Asia in his CFO roles and for Ford and Jaguar Land Rover. During his later years at Rolls-Royce and QinetiQ, he was involved in successfully developing their naval and marine businesses.
He sat on the Board of Motability for nine years, as well as Advantage West Midlands and Coventry University boards. Currently, he is Chair of Audit at the National Air Traffic System (NATS) as well as a Trustee of two Anglican charities. David has published four novels.
Although a Midlander, he loved annual holidays by the sea, rowed at university and enjoyed dinghy sailing in his teens and twenties, and now spends time in the Poole area walking the coastline and occasionally crewing on small yachts.