Martin Fiennes

Martin has served as Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire since 2018. He is part of the Lieutenancy team focused on Banbury and holds the Lieutenancy’s technology brief for the County.

Martin was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and later studied for an MBA at Ashridge Management College. He worked in early-stage venture capital for Top Technology Ventures and then set up his own corporate finance boutique trading as Gatehouse Capital specialising in UK technology start-ups. In 2015, he was a founding Principal at Oxford Science Enterprise (OSE) and was then responsible for making investments from its £860m fund in spin-out companies based on science from the University of Oxford. He retired from an active investment role in 2024 but remains as a Non-Executive Director for OSE at three portfolio companies.

Martin now focuses on managing his family’s estate at Broughton Castle, near Banbury, which has been in his family since the fourteenth century. Within this, he oversees farming of 1,000 acres of arable land, and in addition the Castle welcomes over 10,000 visitors and hosts a range of charitable events every year. Martin is also a Trustee of the HDH Wills 1965 Charitable Trust, which is an independent grant-making charity that supports general, environmental, and wildlife charities.