Kevan Watts

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of our Non-Executive Director Kevan Watts.

Kevan joined the Tottenham Hotspur Board in December, 2010. A lifelong supporter of the Club, Kevan brought a wealth of international business experience to the Club along with a 38-year career in senior investment banking.

Club Chairman Daniel Levy said: “Kevan was a dear friend and colleague and we are all extremely sad to hear of his passing. Since he joined us eight years ago, Kevan has been a major support to the Board as we’ve moved forward into a new era which has included the construction of our New Stadium, Training Centre and Player Lodge as well as being instrumental in key commercial partnership agreements. I speak for everyone at the Club when I say that he was a much valued member of the Spurs family and will be sorely missed.”

We extend our sincere condolences to Kevan’s family and friends at this difficult time.

Kevan Watts

Educated at University College, Oxford, Kevan Vincent Watts gained a first-class degree in politics, philosophy and economics and a postgraduate degree in philosophy.

During his early career, he spent seven years working at HM Treasury, which included two years as Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary.

From 1981 to 2010, Kevan worked for Merrill Lynch in New York, London, Hong Kong and Mumbai. During his 29-year tenure at the wealth management firm, he held a number of senior positions including Co-Head of Global Investment Banking, Chairman of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Pacific Rim regions, and Chairman of International. Through his roles, he advised many companies and banks in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia on a wide range of financing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions, as well as managing significant parts of Merrill Lynch’s international businesses. During the final two years of his time with Merrill Lynch, he oversaw the company’s business in India following their merger with the Bank of America.

In 2011, Kevan was recruited by HSBC as a senior advisor and he went on to assume the role of Vice Chairman, Banking. Based in London, he regularly travelled to Asia, maintaining and developing HSBC’s corporate and banking relationships at a senior level.

Kevan also served as Chairman of the UK-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Business Council, a non-profit organisation founded in 2011 by the UK government to facilitate trade and business relations between the United Kingdom and Asia, was a member of the International Advisory Council of Chinese telecom equipment company Huawei Technologies and a member of the Advisory Board of Corsair Capital, a long-standing private equity firm exclusively investing in financial services. He was also a director of Frankham Estates Limited.

In December, 2010, Kevan joined the Club as Non-Executive Director, a role in which his wealth of international business experience has been invaluable.