Sharon Bowles, The Right Honourable The Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted, was appointed to the Chair of HCB Holding Limited in January 2021.  HCB Holding Limited is the 100% owner of the Hampshire Community Bank.

Sharon Bowles was made Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted in 2015 and is presently a member of the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee, having previously served the maximum three sessions on the Economic Committee. She takes an active part in legislation, mainly in the areas of financial services, competition, audit and corporate governance.  

From 2005 to 2014 Sharon was a member of the European Parliament and chaired its Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. In that role she was at the heart of  both the massive reforms to financial regulation made after the financial crisis and the creation of the EUs supervisory architecture for financial services. She was also at the helm  negotiating the economic governance reforms for the Eurozone.  She was internationally listed as one of the most influential people in financial services regulation.

Sharon has an academic background in solid state physics and mathematics, professional qualification as a European Patent Attorney and ran her own business for over 20 years. She is a non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange Plc, a member of the international Systemic Risk Council and is also engaged with development of social impact investing.