Banyard and Bowles appointed HMRC Commissioners

The Queen has approved the appointments of Stephen Banyard (Acting Director General for Personal Tax, HMRC) and Simon Bowles (Chief Finance Officer, HMRC) as Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs. The appointments were announced by Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary, at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee in the House of Commons.

Stephen Banyard is a trained Tax Inspector and was Director Operations for the former Inland Revenue, responsible for the national network of tax offices. He has worked for the Inland Revenue and HMRC for 35 years, becoming Director of Corporation Tax and VAT in 2005. He has been in his present position since November last year.

Simon Bowles joined HMRC in March 2009. He was previously Chief Finance Officer at Fiberweb PLC, an international fabrics manufacturer. Simon has held various senior positions in a 30 year career in finance in the UK, USA and Australia with RAC, BOC Group and Arthur Andersen and Co. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.