Board of Trustees

Chris Outram - Chairman

Beat has an elected board of 6 Trustees who are The Directors of the Company.

The Trustees are nominated and elected by the voting membership and reflect a range of skills including governance skills, legal and financial expertise and media skills.

They are responsible for the overall direction, policies and management of Beat.

The majority of our trustees have personal experience of eating disorders as parents, carers or sufferers themselves.

Chris Outram – Chairman

Chris has been a trustee since December 2009 and took on the role of Chairman of our Board of Trustees in March 2011.

Chris is Chairman of the International Strategy Consultancy OC&C which he founded in 1987. Prior to OC&C, Chris trained in US consultancies and pursued a number of general management roles internationally. He holds Double Honours Degrees in Engineering and Economics as well as an MBA from INSEAD.

Chris has two daughters and lives in central London.

Dick Taylor – Vice Chairman

Richard Taylor was for 30 years a partner in the solicitors firm CMS Cameron McKenna where he specialised in EU and UK competition law.

He is currently a member of the Competition Commission and a trustee of the charity Beating Bowel Cancer.

Frank Neale  – Treasurer

Frank Neale is a partner in IRRfc a private equity advisory firm. Frank has been a private equity investor since 1981 first with PA Consulting then with Citicorp then with Phildrew Ventures/UBS.  He is a business coach and also sits on the Board of two quoted private equity investment trusts.  Other pro bono activities include membership of the Finance Committee of the Open University and Vice Chair of West Herts College.

Dr Alan Currie 

Alan joined the board in 2007 and is a consultant psychiatrist with the Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Trust. He has considerable experience of management and service development within NHS mental health services and currently serves on the council of governors of his employing Trust. He has also worked with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to promote patient involvement in service developments and mental health strategy. He has specific expertise in eating disorders in sports and acts as a consultant to a number of organisations including UK Athletics, UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport.

Penny Junor 

Penny Junor is an author, journalist and broadcaster whose interest in and understanding of eating disorders grew as a result of writing biographies of the Princess of Wales.  She became Patron of the Cirencester Self-Help Group in 2004 and a Beat trustee in 2006.  She is also Patron of Women’s Health Concern.  She is married with four children and lives in Wiltshire.

Sir Laurie Magnus 

Father of 3 Laurie Magnus is an investment banker and is currently Chairman of Lexicon Partners, a corporate finance advisory business with a wide ranging client base in the financial institutions and utilities sectors.

Laurie was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Beat from 2005 until 2011, when he was succeeded by Chris Outram. He is on the boards of various listed investment companies, Deputy Chairman of the National Trust and an elected member of its Council, Deputy Chairman of the Windsor Leadership Trust and a trustee of the Landmark Trust.

Trustee Recruitment

Beat is looking for dynamic people to join our Trustee Board.

We need someone with a financial background to replace our Treasurer who is retiring later this year. We are also interested in recruiting other Trustees, especially those with expertise in Fundraising and or a knowledge of GP services, or Education.

For more information please contact:  Philip Nelson at

ProspectUs, 20-22 Stukeley Street London WC2B 5LR.

Tel: 020 7691 1920       e-mail: Philip.Nelson@prospect-us.co.uk