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Quick Facts
Biography
Philip Edward Yea (born 11 December 1954) is a British businessman and private equity investor who currently serves as chairman of the British Heart Foundation. Prior to this, he was chief executive of 3i Group plc, from 2005 to January 2009. Yea is an executive director of Vodafone Group plc and senior business adviser to Prince Andrew, Duke of York. In 2008 he was ranked 41st in The Times Power 100 list, a list which rates the most powerful people in British business
Early life
He attended Wallington County Grammar School and later obtained a degree in Modern Languages (French and Spanish) from Brasenose College, University of Oxford.
Career
Yea joined 3i in July 2004, after a career spanning both public and private companies, having been a managing director at Investcorp, where his main focus was on the performance of portfolio investments. He joined Investcorp in 1999 from Diageo. He spent six years as group finance director, both at Guinness and then at Diageo after Guinness's merger with Grand Metropolitan in 1997. Yea's thirteen-year career at Guinness/Diageo mainly involved financial positions but also saw him in a number of wider-ranging roles including the chairmanship of The Gleneagles Hotel and Guinness Publishing. He was also a director of Moët Hennessy. He has also been a non-executive director of HBOS plc and of Manchester United plc.
Yea is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Personal life
He is married with three children.