Post by Criticaleye

Experienced Chair and former Chief Executive Paul Lester has joined Criticaleye’s prestigious global group of Board Mentors! Now operating exclusively at Board level with private-equity backed businesses, Paul has Chair roles at McCarthy & Stone, Funeral Partners Limited and PRÆSIDIAD. He is also an Advisor to L3Harris Technologies, the US Defence business. Prior to his plural career, Paul was Group Managing Director of Balfour Beatty and CEO of Graseby and of VT Group, all FTSE 250 companies and he also sat on the Board of Invensys, a FTSE100 PLC. He will add valuable expertise to Criticaleye’s world-leading group of mentors which offers collective experience of more than 200 CEO and 450 Board roles. Paul has experience of chairing four FTSE250 companies as well as over ten PE-backed businesses. He can provide a broad perspective on governance, oversight and value creation that will be highly sought after by executives and NED’s grappling with these issues across our Community. Having chaired many private equity-backed businesses through successful exits, Paul has experience navigating the different dynamics and decision-making approaches required to move from shareholder driven performance to long-term strategic growth. He also brings deep expertise at managing  institutional complexity having served on the UK Government Major Projects Review Group since 2005 to 2025. Commenting on the new appointment, Charlie Wagstaff, Managing Director, Criticaleye says: “Paul is a familiar face within our Community and has contributed at various Member events and interactions. I’m delighted to now welcome him as a Board Mentor. His experience, particularly in our Growth Company space, will be extremely valuable.” Paul is a regular speaker for Criticaleye and has contributed to our leadership content on a wide variety of topics. In this video, he is quoted alongside Danuta Gray, Non-executive Chair, Direct Line Group, Bruce Carnegie-Brown, Chair, Lloyd's of London and Catherine May, Chair, Shoreham Port on how Boards can best support their organisations when it comes to driving change and transformation: https://lnkd.in/eFHt6YAt Paul comments: “I’m looking forward to working more closely with Criticaleye Members. Having had first-hand experience of the Community and what it can offer executives, I’m excited to be part of the team and work directly with leaders as the tackle some of the challenges in the market and maximise value.” Criticaleye Board Mentors offer an independent and impartial sounding board so Members can gain open and honest feedback away from their leadership team and immediate networks.