In his current role with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Francis aims to make finance markets work better for smaller businesses and diverse founders. He works with the government-owned British Business Bank on issues including bank lending, asset finance, and equity investment in growth companies.
Francis was previously responsible for the Department’s work on Business and Human Rights and, until 2015, the campaign to increase the representation of women on the boards of UK listed companies. This successfully met the target of 25% women on the boards of the UK’s largest 100 companies, without the need for legislation.
Francis’s background is in manufacturing and his previous roles in BEIS have covered infrastructure, skills and the automotive sector. From 2006 to 2009 he headed the Learning Grid, a charity promoting science and engineering in schools.