Nicholas Cheffings

Nicholas was appointed as Board Counsellor on 1 September 2025.

Nicholas, a lawyer by background, worked at the international law firm Hogan Lovells for 23 years. Having joined as a Partner in 1999, Nicholas went on to become Hogan Lovells’ Global Chair from 2012 to 2018, following which he provided Senior Counsel consultancy services to Hogan Lovells to 2022.

Nicholas joined The Crown Estate in 2021 as Interim Group Head of Legal and Company Secretary for ten months and again later served as The Crown Estate’s Company Secretary for the period September 2023 to September 2024. In March 2022, Nicholas was appointed Special Advisor to the Chief Executive, a position he held until August 2025. Nicholas was a member of the Group Leadership Team and attended Board meetings.

In other roles, Nicholas served as an independent Member of the Council of the University of Exeter from 2019 to 2025 and was Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee for two years. He is a Member and past Chair of the British Paralympic Association’s Parallel Club and Patron of Real Estate Balance. Nicholas is also a patron and ambassador for a number of other DEI charities. Roles recently held by him include being a trustee and Chair of Making The Leap, Executive Chair of PRIME Commitment and trustee of the CareTech Charitable Foundation.

Key strengths:

• Real Estate

• Commercial

• Strategic overview and analysis

• Governance

• Legal, including dispute resolution