Danny Lopez (businessman)

Danny Lopez
Her Majesty's Consul-General in New York
In office
July 2016  July 2011
Prime Minister David Cameron
Minister William Hague (until 2014)
Philip Hammond (from 2014)
Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald (until 2012),
Sir Peter Westmacott (2012–2016),
Sir Kim Darroch (from 2016)
Preceded by Sir Alan Collins
Succeeded by Antonia Romeo

Danny Lopez (born May 1974) is a former banker, marketer, diplomat and scale-up exec who launched Rhetorica in July 2018 and holds a number of non-executive positions[1]. Between 2011 and 2016 Lopez was the British Consul-General to New York and Director-General of UK Trade & Investment in the United States and Canada. When he was appointed in 2011 he became the youngest ever British Consul-General to New York. He was succeeded by Antonia Romeo in July 2016.[2]

Career Overview

Lopez joined Barclays Bank on its Management Development Programme in 1996. During his ten years at Barclays he held a number of senior international positions, including Head of Global Inward Investment in London, Director of Business Banking in New York and Director of Business Development in India.[3]

In 2006, Lopez took up the position of Managing Director of Marketing & Communications at UK Trade & Investment, the UK government's foreign commercial arm, where he was responsible for delivering a new marketing strategy to promote the UK economy internationally.[4]

From 2009 to 2011, Lopez worked for the Mayor of London’s economic development arm, under Boris Johnson, as Group Director for Business Support and International Promotion.[4] During this time, Lopez was responsible for creating London & Partners, London's promotional agency for business, visitors and students and was its first Chief Executive Officer.

In 2011, the role of HM Consul-General to New York was opened up to applicants outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Lopez was confirmed as the successful candidate. As the senior British diplomat to New York for five years, Lopez was responsible for promoting the UK’s economic profile, foreign policy and national security priorities, engaging at the highest levels of US political and business leadership. In addition, Lopez led UK Trade & Investment across nine cities in the US, working closely with multinationals on both sides of the Atlantic. During Lopez's tenure as HM Consul-General, he hosted TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to New York in December 2014.[5][6] Lopez also actively promoted the expansion of high-tech US startups into the UK,[7][8] and facilitated collaboration between the tech industries of both countries.[9] In November 2013 Lopez was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[10]

In June 2016 Lopez left his diplomatic position and returned to the private sector. Lopez moved back to London and became the Chief Operating Officer at Blippar, [11]a British technology company specialising in augmented reality (AR) and computer vision, a role he held for two years.[12] In May 2017 Lopez joined the advisory board of Grant Thornton UK's Vibrant Economy Commission.[13]In September 2017, Innovate Finance, the independent membership association that represents the UK’s global FinTech community, announced that Lopez was joining its board as a non-executive director.[14]Lopez launched advisory firm Rhetorica in July 2018 aimed at supporting start-ups, scale-ups, international corporates and trade/investment promotion agencies with their leadership, strategy and international growth challenges.

Personal

Born in England to José Antonio and Elizabeth, and brought up in Spain, Lopez was educated at the Marists School of Zaragoza. Lopez, fluent in both English and Spanish,[3]holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in economics and a Master's degree in international economics and finance from the University of Essex.[4] In 2012 he married his Australian fiancée, Susan Grieve. They have three children. [15][16]

References

  1. "Danny Lopez's official profile on The Marque".
  2. "Change of Her Majesty's Consul General in New York - News stories - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  3. 1 2 LeRoy, Bridget. "British Consul General: The Star Talks to Danny Lopez", The East Hampton Star, East Hampton, NY, 18 August 2011. Retrieved on 5 April 2012
  4. 1 2 3 British Consulate-General, New York
  5. "Actor Matthew Rhys Finds Himself Tongue-Tied over Princess Kate". People.
  6. "Prince William and Duchess Kate: 9 Things That Have Happened Since They Arrived in the US". ABC News - Good Morning America, Dec 8, 2014,
  7. "Exporting startups? Pete Cashmore joins David Karp to pick top U.S. talent". Upstart Business Journal
  8. "British Want Philly Tech Companies to Expand to U.K.". By Lauren Hertzler | Philadelphia Business Journal.
  9. "London & New York - Silicon Cities With Much to Learn From Each Other". New York Daily News.
  10. https://www.themarque.com/members/danny-lopez
  11. "Tech upstart poaches top British diplomat in New York". The Independent. 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  12. CNBC (2018-06-25). "Blippar Appoints Seasoned Technology Executive and Digital Agency Veteran Libby Penn to Chief Operating Officer". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-07-08.
  13. "The Vibrant Economy Commission". Grant Thornton - Vibrant Economy. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  14. "Innovate Finance Appoints New Non Executive Directors". Innovate Finance – The Voice of Global FinTech. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
  15. "'Susan Grieve, Danny Lopez". New York Times.
  16. "New British Consul General in New York". British Academy of Film and Television Arts]
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Sir Alan Collins
Her Majesty's Consul-General in New York,
Foreign & Commonwealth Office

2011–July 2016
Succeeded by
Antonia Romeo
as HM Consul-General NYC
and Director-General, Economic
and Commercial Affairs, USA
Director-General,
Economic and Commercial Affairs USA,
UK Trade & Investment

2011–July 2016
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