Sherard worked at HSBC as a full-time employee from 2013 to 2023, initially as Senior Adviser to the Group Chairman and Group Chief Executive, and for eight years heading the Group’s Global Government and Public Affairs functions. On his retirement on 31 December 2023, he was engaged as Senior Adviser to the Group. Earlier he spent over 30 years in the British Diplomatic Service, including working on Hong Kong in the three and a half years up to the handover to China in 1997. He finished his career as Ambassador to Israel, Saudi Arabia and then Afghanistan.

Sherard is Chair of the China-Britain Business Council; Honorary Vice President of the UK Financial Inclusion Commission; a Committee Member of The Hong Kong Association; and a Board Member of Asia House. He is an Ambassador for the Money Advice Trust, and for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. He is a member of the fundraising committee for Maggie’s charity, and a Trustee of Arundells, the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation. He is President of the Jane Austen Society.

Sherard is the author of two books: Cables from Kabul and Ever the Diplomat.