Kristen McLeod Chief Strategy Officer

Kristen joined the British Business Bank from HM Treasury, where she served as Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Growth, Investment and Business since October 2022, supporting the development of the growth strategy for the UK economy.

Prior to this Kristen served as the Director of the Office for Life Sciences for the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Health and Social Care, reporting to two Secretaries of State with responsibility spanning policy on NHS innovation to industrial strategy for life sciences.

Kristen’s 19-year career in the civil service has included roles as Senior Responsible Officer for the UK Testing Programme – which set up the UK’s Covid PCR testing network, Director of Strategy, Performance and Planning at the Department of Health and Social Care and Principal Private Secretary (Chief of Staff) to the Secretary of State for Health.

Kristen was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021 for services to life sciences and holds a degree in History and French from University College London.