Stuart Grant Roden
British hedge-fund manager and charity trustee (born March 1963)
| Stuart Grant Roden | |
|---|---|
| Image | |
| Born | March 1963 |
| Died | |
| Nationality | British |
| Residence | |
| Occupation | Fund manager; company director; charity trustee |
| Known for | Lansdowne Partners; Unlocking Potential; National Gallery; Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust |
| Parents | |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | |
| Sibling(s) | |
| Education | |
| Predecessor | |
| Website | |
Stuart Grant Roden (Companies House date of birth March 1963; officer ID orxJvCp-oocxK3SIudobhiYlMSc) is a British fund manager and public-appointment trustee. Forty appointments sit on this officer ID.[1]
He received a first-class BSc in economics from the London School of Economics, joined S.G. Warburg in 1984, later worked at McKinsey and as a managing director at Merrill Lynch, and in 2001 joined Lansdowne Partners to co-manage the Developed Markets / UK equities strategy with Peter Davies. He chaired Lansdowne until January 2019.[2][3]
Public appointments and charities
Prime Minister–appointed trustee of the National Gallery from 1 November 2019; reappointed from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2027. Chair of that board’s Corporate and Donations Review Committee. The 2023 reappointment notice records a prior recordable donation to the Labour Party.[3]
Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Design Museum from June 2023 (trustee from 13 April 2023), succeeding Peter Mandelson.[4]
Chair and founder of social-mobility charity Unlocking Potential / The UP Foundation (CH appointments from August / November 2015).[2][1]
Other boards named on his National Gallery register of interests and on this CH file include Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust (director from 4 June 2013; also styled Covenant & Conversation Trust on the ROI), Jewish Care (2011–2020), Magen David Adom UK (2006–2015), Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (2008–2023), The Trustees of the Institute of Jewish Studies (2009–2023), The Warburg Charitable Trust (2020–2025), and LSE Council (director from 26 March 2021).[5][1]
The Financial Times reported that he was a major donor to Kids Company before its 2015 collapse and then co-founded Unlocking Potential. The Times reported Camila Batmanghelidjh’s claim that he helped secure a £3 million government grant for Kids Company shortly before it closed; that is her affidavit, not a court finding against him.[6][7]
Politics, donations and think tanks
Roden is a trustee of the Centre for Social Justice, the think tank founded by Iain Duncan Smith. The CSJ board page lists him as former chairman of Lansdowne Partners and a trustee of Unlocking Potential, the National Gallery and LSE Council.[8] The Foundation for Jewish Heritage leadership page adds that he chairs the investment committees of Jewish Care and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and is a general partner of Hetz Ventures.[9] His National Gallery reappointment notice recorded a prior recordable donation to the Labour Party.[3]
Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission register lists cash donations in the name Mr Stuart Roden. A public search of that register returned 13 cash donations totalling £1,623,500, including:[10]
| Recipient | Amount | Accepted | EC ref (where published) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Together | £100,000 | 30 January 2025 | C0599338 |
| Labour Party (North East Somerset and Hanham) | £5,000 | 24 June 2024 | C0586838 |
| Labour Party (central) | £500,000 | 17 June 2024 | C0586835 |
| Labour Party (Peterborough CLP) | £5,000 | 13 June 2024 | C0586839 |
| Labour Party (Altrincham and Sale West CLP) | £3,500 | 12 June 2024 | C0586840 |
| Labour Party (central) | £70,000 | 30 May 2024 | C0586836 |
| Labour Party (Midlothian North and Musselburgh CLP) | £5,000 | 10 April 2024 | C0586837 |
| Labour Party (Bassetlaw CLP) | £5,000 | 7 March 2024 | C0576179 |
| Labour Party (central) | £180,000 | 5 October 2023 | C0575198 |
| Labour Party (central) | £80,000 | 26 February 2023 | C0568529 |
Declassified UK (2 July 2024) reported that donations worth £570,000 were registered after the 2024 snap election was called, that the running total to Labour since 2023 then exceeded £1 million, and that he had also funded shadow ministers Bridget Phillipson and Lisa Nandy. Those minister-level gifts should be checked on the regulated-donee tab of the same register before being copied as amounts.[11]
He told the Spectator there was “absolutely no way” he would have voted for Jeremy Corbyn and that he had “voted actively against him”; he said the idea that Labour had not changed under Keir Starmer was “ludicrous”.[11]
October 2023 protests
In October 2023, during Labour conference in Liverpool, Roden was filmed confronting a pro-Palestine demonstration. Contemporary coverage and footage recorded him shouting that protesters had “murdered children”, telling journalists the demonstration should be banned, and saying “Starmer is absolutely right. Kick them out. I did not vote Labour last time under Corbyn.” Fraser Nelson identified him on X as a Labour donor and CSJ board colleague.[11][12][13]
The same month he told the Spectator that the IDF “will do everything in its power, as it always has done, to avoid civilian casualties” and that Israel was engaged in a “clash of civilisations”.[11]
Hetz Ventures
Hetz Ventures is a UK-originated venture fund investing in Israeli startups, launched 2018. Founding partners named in the trade press were Andrew Feldman, Baron Feldman of Elstree (former Conservative Party chairman), Roden, and Judah Taub. Globes described it as the first all-UK fund dedicated to Israeli ventures; first close was reported at about $50 million. Taub’s own biographical sites state prior IDF intelligence service and later reserve duty.[14][15] Later fundraises and a Tel Aviv operating base are reported in the Israeli financial press; treat partner lists after 2018 as evolving.[16]
I-gnite
Declassified UK, citing the Jewish Chronicle, described Roden as the lead funder of I-gnite, a UK schools programme set up after the 2021 Gaza war to prepare Jewish pupils to discuss Israel and antisemitism. I-gnite’s own site argues that calling Israel an apartheid or colonial state is false and that Hamas’s use of civilian sites makes them “legitimate military target[s]”.[11] The JC has separately covered I-gnite school tours; that coverage does not by itself prove the size of Roden’s gift.[17]
Ambassador meetings
Declassified UK reported that Tzipi Hotovely’s diary, obtained via FOI, listed two meetings with Roden in July 2024 after Labour took office: one at a London gallery and one at the ambassador’s residence. Middle East Eye repeated that diary claim.[18][19] The Financial Times had earlier reported an “informal dialogue” with Labour leadership; Roden said he expressed “views on some of the things I care about”.[18]
Companies House
Forty appointments on this ID. Grouped below; resignation dates as filed.[1]
Current on this ID (selection)
| Company | Number | Role | Appointed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funifex (No.2) Limited | 09357792 | Director | 16 June 2026 |
| The Conduit Holdco Limited | 11018010 | Director | 20 June 2024 |
| Lewis Advisors LLP | OC447107 | LLP designated member | 10 May 2023 |
| London School of Economics and Political Science | 00070527 | Director | 26 March 2021 |
| Oak Tower Capital Limited | 12200636 | Director | 21 August 2020 |
| Davies Roden Limited | 12335006 | Director | 26 November 2019 |
| 7 Cavendish Limited | 11950717 | Director | 17 April 2019 |
| Lansdowne Partners Management LLP | OC359228 | LLP member | 1 April 2019 |
| Tresidor Investment Management LLP | OC423884 | LLP member | 1 March 2019 |
| Frieda Roden Limited | 10269992 | Director | 8 July 2016 |
| The UP Foundation | 09877152 | Director | 18 November 2015 |
| UP - Unlocking Potential | 09750864 | Director | 26 August 2015 |
| Palmhurst Residential Pelham LLP | OC394457 | LLP designated member | 25 July 2014 |
| Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust | 08556127 | Director | 4 June 2013 |
| Palmhurst Regency Freehold LLP | OC382429 | LLP designated member | 14 February 2013 |
| Wylie & Heyworth LLP | OC339018 | LLP member (company in liquidation) | 8 November 2012 |
| Palmhurst Clock Court Residential Property LLP | OC379716 | LLP designated member | 26 October 2012 |
| Ruart Limited | 08250135 | Director | 11 October 2012 |
| S.R. Herd Limited | 07998853 | Director | 20 March 2012 |
| Palmhurst Regency LLP | OC367750 | LLP designated member | 5 September 2011 |
| Trentvale Limited | 04076680 | Director | 4 November 2003 |
Resigned / dissolved on this ID
| Company | Number | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marylebone Partners LLP | OC381480 | LLP member | 1 April 2020 | 21 November 2025 |
| The Warburg Charitable Trust | 03645747 | Director | 4 February 2020 | 23 October 2025 |
| The Trustees of the Institute of Jewish Studies | 02598783 | Director | 19 October 2009 | 6 November 2023 |
| Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies | 01109384 | Director | 24 June 2008 | 26 September 2023 |
| Jewish Care | 02447900 | Director | 24 January 2011 | 14 September 2020 |
| Lansdowne Partners (UK) LLP | OC388966 | LLP member | 5 November 2013 | 1 April 2019 |
| Lansdowne Partners Limited | 03514088 | Director | 8 June 2001 | 1 April 2019 |
| Harrier Solar Limited | 07936061 | Director | 29 March 2013 | 15 April 2016 |
| Hoddington Inns Limited | 07319148 | Director | 6 December 2010 | 2 February 2015 |
| Magen David Adom UK | 05718138 | Director | 24 April 2006 | 28 January 2015 |
| 2nd Chance Education | 08495477 | Director | 1 November 2016 | (dissolved) |
| Palmhurst Residential Crescent Mews LLP | OC400839 | LLP designated member | 16 July 2015 | (dissolved) |
| Palmhurst Residential Putney LLP | OC385226 | LLP designated member | 20 May 2013 | (dissolved) |
| Palmhurst Residential LLP | OC351686 | LLP designated member | 27 March 2012 | (dissolved) |
Personal property vehicles named on the National Gallery ROI include Trentvale Limited, S.R. Herd Limited, Ruart Limited, and Palmhurst LLPs. Frieda Roden Limited and Davies Roden Limited are family-name companies on the same ID.[5][1]
See also
- Lansdowne Partners
- Unlocking Potential
- Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust
- Jewish Care
- Magen David Adom UK
- National Gallery
- Design Museum
- Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Stuart Grant RODEN personal appointments, Companies House, officer ID orxJvCp-oocxK3SIudobhiYlMSc, date of birth March 1963.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stuart Roden, National Gallery Board of Trustees.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Two Trustees reappointed to the National Gallery, GOV.UK, 24 November 2023.
- ↑ Stuart Roden appointed as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Design Museum, Design Museum, 13 April 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stuart Roden related parties / register of interests, National Gallery, 2024–25.
- ↑ Stuart Roden backs pioneering new school in London, Financial Times, 7 September 2018.
- ↑ Fariha Karim, Kids Company charity chief Camila Batmanghelidjh names man behind bailout, The Times, 11 November 2020.
- ↑ Stuart Roden, Centre for Social Justice.
- ↑ Stuart Roden, Foundation for Jewish Heritage.
- ↑ Electoral Commission donations search, query “Stuart Roden”.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 John McEvoy, Pro-Israel tycoon gives Labour half a million pounds, Declassified UK, 2 July 2024.
- ↑ Fraser Nelson, post, 10 October 2023.
- ↑ Lone Israel supporter berates demonstrators, Daily Mail, October 2023.
- ↑ UK's Hetz Ventures sets up $50m Israel VC fund, Globes, 4 February 2018.
- ↑ UK's Hetz Ventures sets up $50m Israel VC fund, Hetz Ventures.
- ↑ Hetz Ventures raises $140m fourth fund, Globes, 6 January 2026.
- ↑ Ben Conway, I-gnite goes on the road, The Jewish Chronicle, 27 March 2026.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Revealed: The Tzipi Hotovely diary, Declassified UK, 12 August 2025.
- ↑ Imran Mulla, Israeli ambassador met with key UK Labour donors, Middle East Eye, 13 August 2025.