In this special episode we have the honour of hosting Sir Damon Buffini, Deputy Chair of the BBC Board and Chair of the BBC Commercial Board in the heart of the City of London and the iconic St Paul's Cathedral for a truly special episode of Off The Agenda.

Sir Damon's journey is nothing short of remarkable. From growing up on a Leicester council estate to becoming a leading figure in international finance, arts, and philanthropy, his story is one of inspiration and transformation.

0:34 Intro Sir Damon Buffini
3:50 Things that shaped you growing up in the early 1960s
6:36 Describe your experiences with the US education system
11:03 How would you compare the UK & US education systems?
17:00 What advice would you give to the 18 to 25yearold version of yourself?
23:02 Highlights in asset wealth management from a global perspective
25:49 Founding the Buffini Chao Foundation with Lady Deborah Buffini
30:45 Appointed as Chair of the Royal National Theatre
32:53 Appointed as Chair of the £2 billion Cultural Recovery Fund
35:35 Can the BBC keep up in a sector dominated by Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+?
38:54 Knighted in Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's birthday honours in 2016
40:15 Selected by Harvard Business School as one of the 84 “Agents of Change”
42:00 What advice would you give to the next generation of young people?

Don't miss this engaging conversation! Tune in now to hear from Sir Damon Buffini, an Agent of Change shaping the worlds of finance, culture, and philanthropy.
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Sir Charles Bowman is a British accountant who served as the 690th Lord Mayor of London. Sir Charles specialises in delivering audit, assurance and capital market transaction services to larger listed and multinational companies and is considered one of the leading global minds on financial services. He has chaired the Assurance Panel and the Audit and Assurance Faculty of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). Sir Charles has been a member of its governing body and a Trustee and Chairman of the Lord Mayor's Appeal.

Sir Charles was elected as the Alderman of the Ward of Lime Street in the City of London and served as one of the two Sheriffs of the City of London. Sir Charles Bowman is described as one of the most forward thinkers in learning, development and engagement initiatives; he is passionate about social mobility, inclusion and ethics.

Today, he helps and encourages the early unlocking of the city's future talent to help businesses understand how these shifts impact society and marketplace behaviour. He was knighted in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to trust in business, international trade and the City of London.


Sir Damon Buffini was a founding partner of Permira and was Chairman and Managing Partner from 19972010. Under his leadership Permira’s funds under management grew from €1.9 billion to over €20 billion and the firm’s number of offices rose from four to twelve.  Permira was named European Private Equity Firm of the decade 1996 – 2006. He remained a partner at Permira until the end of 2015. 

In 2015 Sir Damon was appointed Chair of the Royal National Theatre whose mission is to create world class theatre and make it available to everyone. In 2019, the "NT" had a global audience of over 7 million. 

In 2020 Damon was appointed by the Secretary of State for DCMS as Chair of the £1.6billion Cultural Recovery Fund which is granted and invested to ensure the survival and sustainability of the UK’s culturally significant organisations. 

In 2005 Sir Damon became a founding Trustee of the Buffini Chao Foundation which promotes and funds access to education and activities for young people. 

Sir Damon was a Governor of the Wellcome Trust from 2012 2018. Wellcome is £25 billion global charity dedicated to improving global health and wellbeing.

Sir Damon was Knighted in 2016 for philanthropic and voluntary services.