Rick Haythornthwaite currently serves as the Chairman of NatWest Group and Embedded Finance Ltd. He is also a non-executive director of The AA and a senior advisory partner at Moelis & Co. His career began at BP as an exploration geologist, leading to various commercial and senior leadership roles before moving to Premier Oil in 1995.

In 1997, he joined the Blue Circle cement group, where he led a period of sector consolidation and was promoted to Group Chief Executive in 1999.