Introduction

Tom Scholar spent years working behind the scenes at the highest levels of British government.

Then came September 2022.

His sudden departure from HM Treasury pushed the veteran civil servant into public headlines far beyond Westminster. Scholar had been Permanent Secretary to the Treasury since 2016, working through Brexit, the COVID-19 economic response, changes of prime minister and some of the toughest periods British economic officials had faced in years.

His government career ended. His professional career did not.

As of September 2026, Sir Tom Scholar GCB is Chair of Santander UK Group Holdings plc and Santander UK plc. He also chairs several Nomura companies in Europe.

That makes his story unusual. Scholar moved from the top administrative post inside the UK Treasury into board leadership at major financial institutions.

Quick Facts About Tom Scholar

Detail	Verified information
Full name	Sir Thomas Whinfield Scholar GCB
Known as	Tom Scholar
Born	December 1968
Nationality	British
Education	Trinity Hall, Cambridge; London School of Economics
Cambridge subject	History
Postgraduate study	MSc in Economics
Main former government role	Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury
Treasury Permanent Secretary	2016 to September 2022
Current Santander position	Chair of Santander UK Group Holdings plc and Santander UK plc
Other current positions	Chair of Nomura Europe Holdings plc, Nomura International plc and Nomura Bank International plc
Honour	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, GCB
Cambridge connection	Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall

Who Is Tom Scholar?

Tom Scholar is a British former senior civil servant whose career was closely tied to economic policy, financial regulation and government administration.

Most people searching his name know him from one position.

Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury.

That job placed him at the administrative head of one of the most powerful UK government departments. He served from 2016 until September 2022.

But his career started much earlier.

Scholar worked across HM Treasury, 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He represented the UK internationally and later became one of the country’s most senior economic officials.

After leaving government, he moved into banking board positions.

That is where he works now.

Tom Scholar’s Education

Scholar studied History at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge.

Trinity Hall identifies him as an alumnus and now an Honorary Fellow. He began studying there in the late 1980s.

His academic path then moved toward economics.

Scholar later completed an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics. He confirmed that qualification himself in evidence supplied to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

That combination makes sense when looking at his later work.

History first. Economics next. Then Treasury.

His Early HM Treasury Career

Scholar began working with HM Treasury in the early 1990s.

There is a small difference between official records on the exact starting year. A 2016 Treasury announcement says he joined HM Treasury in 1992, while Scholar later told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry that he had worked for the Treasury in different capacities from 1990.

So the safest description is simple.

His Treasury career began in the early 1990s.

He worked in areas such as economic forecasting, public spending, banking supervision and management of foreign exchange reserves.

His responsibilities grew.

From 1998 to 2001, Scholar served as Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer during Gordon Brown’s time at the Treasury.

That put him close to the centre of UK economic decision making.

IMF and World Bank Work

Scholar’s career then became international.

From 2001 to 2007, he represented the United Kingdom at two major global financial institutions.

He served as the UK’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

He also worked as Minister for Economic Affairs at the British Embassy in Washington.

This was a major shift.

Instead of working mainly inside Whitehall, Scholar was representing British financial and economic interests on an international stage.

He returned to London in 2007.

A demanding job followed.

Working Inside 10 Downing Street

Scholar became Chief of Staff and Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

His period at Downing Street covered 2007 and 2008.

He had previously worked closely with Brown at the Treasury, so the move took Scholar directly into the prime minister’s office.

His time there included the change from Tony Blair’s government to Gordon Brown’s premiership.

Then the global financial system came under severe pressure.

Scholar returned to the Treasury.

Tom Scholar and the 2008 Financial Crisis

Scholar came back to HM Treasury in 2008 and took senior responsibility for international finance and financial stability.

He later became Second Permanent Secretary.

His work during the banking crisis became one of the best known parts of his public service record.

British banks were under huge pressure.

Government intervention was extensive.

Financial regulation was being rewritten.

Scholar worked on the Treasury response during that period and on later changes to financial regulation.

He also served as a non-executive director of Northern Rock after the bank entered public ownership.

This was direct exposure to one of the most famous banking failures of the financial crisis.

UK G7, G20 and EU Work

In 2013, Scholar moved to the Cabinet Office.

He became the Prime Minister’s Adviser on European and Global Issues and headed the European and Global Issues Secretariat.

He also served as the UK’s G7, G20 and EU Sherpa.

The title may sound unusual.

In government language, a Sherpa is a senior representative who prepares major international meetings and works through policy issues before political leaders meet.

Scholar’s job placed him close to international economic negotiations during David Cameron’s premiership.

Then HM Treasury called again.

Tom Scholar as Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury

Scholar was announced as the next Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury in March 2016.

He succeeded Sir Nicholas Macpherson.

This was the top civil service role in the department.

A Permanent Secretary is not a politician. The office holder is the department’s most senior civil servant, responsible for administration, staff, institutional advice and support for the elected government.

Scholar held the position for about six years.

And those were busy years.

His tenure covered Britain’s Brexit process and major economic changes around the country’s departure from the European Union.

Then COVID-19 hit.

The pandemic forced the government to create huge emergency economic programmes at exceptional speed.

Scholar remained at the administrative head of the Treasury during that response.

Official honours records later cited his Treasury leadership during the pandemic, including the period in which the UK furlough scheme was introduced.

Why Did Tom Scholar Leave HM Treasury?

Scholar’s Treasury career ended abruptly in September 2022.

On 8 September 2022, HM Treasury announced that Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had asked the Cabinet Secretary to begin the process of finding a new Permanent Secretary.

Scholar said:

“The Chancellor decided it was time for new leadership at the Treasury.”

His departure happened just days after Liz Truss became prime minister.

It quickly became a major Westminster story.

Reports at the time connected the move with the new government’s wish to change the direction of economic policy and challenge what critics called “Treasury orthodoxy.”

The House of Lords Constitution Committee later discussed the episode and noted that Scholar’s departure had widely been reported as a dismissal.

The Treasury’s 2022 to 2023 accounts later recorded a £335,000 severance payment for loss of office.

They also recorded other payments linked to matters such as notice and annual leave.

Scholar’s departure was controversial because of the seniority of his post and the speed of the decision.

There was no criminal case involved.

What Does Tom Scholar Do Now?

Scholar moved from Whitehall into senior financial-sector board work.

Nomura

Nomura announced his appointment in December 2023.

Scholar joined Nomura Europe Holdings and related companies as a non-executive director before moving into chair positions.

As of September 2026, Santander’s official board information lists him as Chair of:

• Nomura Europe Holdings plc
• Nomura International plc
• Nomura Bank International plc

Companies House also records his active directorships in these businesses.

Santander UK

Scholar then took another major banking position.

Santander announced in May 2025 that he had been selected as its next UK chair.

He first joined the boards of Santander UK Group Holdings plc and Santander UK plc as an Independent Non-Executive Director.

Current Santander records show that he became chair on 18 July 2025.

As of September 2026, he remains:

Chair of Santander UK Group Holdings plc

and

Chair of Santander UK plc

He also chairs Santander UK’s Board Nomination and Governance Committee.

His position puts him at the top of the board structure rather than in day-to-day executive management.

Tom Scholar’s Santander Pay

Reliable financial information exists for his Santander board role.

Santander UK’s 2025 reporting recorded approximately:

£455,000 in fees

plus around:

£1,000 in taxable benefits

That produced reported remuneration of about £456,000 for 2025.

There is an important detail here.

Scholar only joined the Santander board in May 2025 and became chair in July. The £456,000 figure should not be treated as his normal full-year income.

It also does not tell us his total personal earnings.

What Is Tom Scholar’s Net Worth?

There is no reliable public evidence that supports a verified personal net worth figure for Tom Scholar.

So putting a number on it would be guesswork.

Public records confirm some remuneration and corporate positions, but those figures cannot be turned into an accurate estimate of his total wealth.

Any article claiming a precise Tom Scholar net worth would need much stronger financial evidence.

Tom Scholar’s Honours

Scholar has received one of Britain’s highest orders for public service.

He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB, in 2017.

The honour recognised his long government career, including his Treasury, Downing Street and international financial work.

He received a higher rank in the same order in the 2023 New Year Honours.

Scholar became a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, GCB.

That is why his formal name is often written:

Sir Tom Scholar GCB

His former university later recognised him too.

Trinity Hall elected Scholar an Honorary Fellow, and he was formally admitted in October 2025.

Tom Scholar and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry

Scholar has remained part of the public record after leaving government.

He supplied evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry about his role at HM Treasury during the pandemic.

A witness statement dated October 2025 describes his responsibilities as Permanent Secretary and gives direct information about his education and career.

This matters for researchers because it gives a first-person account rather than a later profile written by someone else.

Tom Scholar’s Personal Life

Scholar has spent most of his public career as a civil servant rather than a celebrity.

Reliable official sources focus heavily on his professional work.

For that reason, this article does not include unsupported claims about his spouse, children, private home, relationships or other personal matters.

Keeping those claims out is better than filling gaps with information copied from weak profile sites.

Why Tom Scholar Is Still a Relevant Name

Scholar’s government career stretched across several different political periods.

He worked closely with Gordon Brown.

He later advised David Cameron.

He then led HM Treasury’s civil service operation through Brexit-era governments and the COVID-19 emergency.

His exit under Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng was sudden.

That created headlines.

Yet Scholar soon returned to senior financial leadership, this time outside government.

Today, his Santander and Nomura positions keep him closely connected to Britain’s banking sector.

Different setting. Similar subject.

Finance remains central.

Interesting Facts About Tom Scholar

He studied History before Economics.
Scholar read History at Trinity Hall before completing an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics.

He represented Britain at both the IMF and World Bank.
His Washington posting ran from 2001 to 2007.

He worked inside 10 Downing Street.
Scholar served as Chief of Staff and Principal Private Secretary to Gordon Brown.

He sat on the Northern Rock board.
He became a non-executive director after the bank entered public ownership.

He became Treasury Permanent Secretary in 2016.
His tenure lasted until September 2022.

He now chairs major banking businesses.
His current positions include Santander UK and several Nomura companies.

Cambridge later made him an Honorary Fellow.
Trinity Hall formally admitted him in 2025.

Final Thought

Tom Scholar spent decades in jobs most members of the public rarely see.

Yet the decisions around those jobs mattered.

He worked inside the Treasury, Downing Street, the IMF, the World Bank and international government forums before reaching the top civil service position at HM Treasury.

His exit in 2022 was sharp and politically charged.

But it was not the end.

By 2025, Scholar had moved firmly into bank board leadership. As of September 2026, he chairs Santander UK while also holding chair positions across Nomura’s European operations.

So, basically, the simplest answer is this: Tom Scholar went from being one of Britain’s most senior economic civil servants to becoming a senior figure in UK and European banking governance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Tom Scholar?

Tom Scholar is a British former senior civil servant who served as Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury from 2016 to September 2022. He now chairs Santander UK and several Nomura companies.

What is Tom Scholar doing now?

As of September 2026, Tom Scholar is Chair of Santander UK Group Holdings plc and Santander UK plc. He also chairs Nomura Europe Holdings plc, Nomura International plc and Nomura Bank International plc.

Why is Tom Scholar famous?

He is best known for leading HM Treasury’s civil service operation as Permanent Secretary and for his high-profile departure from the department in September 2022.

When was Tom Scholar born?

Companies House records Tom Scholar’s birth month as December 1968. A reliable primary source confirming an exact day has not been used here.

Where did Tom Scholar study?

He studied History at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge, and later completed an MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics.

Why did Tom Scholar leave the Treasury?

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng decided that HM Treasury needed new leadership in September 2022. Scholar left his Permanent Secretary position after that decision.

Was Tom Scholar sacked?

His departure was widely described in political and media discussion as a dismissal. The official Treasury announcement stated that the Chancellor had decided it was time for new leadership.

How much was Tom Scholar’s Treasury severance payment?

HM Treasury’s 2022 to 2023 accounts recorded a £335,000 severance payment for loss of office.

Is Tom Scholar chairman of Santander UK?

Yes. As of September 2026, Santander identifies Sir Tom Scholar as Chair of Santander UK Group Holdings plc and Santander UK plc.

What is Tom Scholar’s net worth?

There is no reliable public evidence supporting a verified personal net worth figure. A precise estimate would be speculative.

Is Tom Scholar a knight?

Yes. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 2017 and promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 2023 New Year Honours.

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