Our Board

Stuart Sinclair – Independent non-executive Chair

Appointed: March 2020

Responsibilities: Leading an effective Board focused on strategic planning, implementation and corporate governance. Chair of Nominations and Governance Committee.

Key skills: Highly-experienced Chair, non-executive director and CEO with a background in insurance, banking and consumer financial services.

Contributions: A strong and effective Board leader with extensive experience in retail banking, insurance and consumer finance ensures a balanced strategic and operational oversight. An insightful and inclusive style fosters a culture of openness and debate within the Board, providing appropriate management challenges.

Current directorships: Chair of Willis Ltd and Chair of Vida Bank, member of the advisory board at the Bradford Literature Festival.

Gerard Ryan – Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

Appointed: January 2012

Responsibilities: Group strategy, operational management, leadership of the executive and senior leadership team. Ensuring good relations with employees, customer representatives, customers, regulators and investors.

Key skills: Inspirational leadership and effective, objective implementation of strategy; over 30 years’ multi-country experience in consumer financial services.

Contributions: Acute market insight which provides a real advantage in driving the implementation of the strategy, and identifying and pursuing growth opportunities.

Gary Thompson – Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer

Appointed: April 2022

Responsibilities: Financial performance and reporting; Group funding and debt investor relations, equity investor relations; Board accountability for internal audit and taxation; the executive relationship with the external auditor; leadership of the Group finance team and other corporate functions; and Chair of the Disclosure Committee.

Key skills: Strong financial leadership with over 20 years’ financial experience spent in both the accounting and corporate sectors.

Contributions: Establishment and owner of the Group’s financial model; effectively supporting the Board, the CEO and executive management in driving optimum financial performance; diversifying the funding base; and developing a more proactive investor relations programme to increase confidence and shareholder value.

Katrina Cliffe – Senior independent non-executive director

Appointed: August 2022

Responsibilities: Senior independent director and Workforce Engagement Director.

Key skills: Extensive experience of financial services with a breadth of executive experience in retail financial services, credit cards, customer service and marketing. Contributions: Expertise in retail financial services, credit cards, customer service and marketing.

Current directorships: Nonexecutive director and Chair of the Remuneration Committees of DCC plc and Vue International.

Richard Holmes – Independent non-executive director

Appointed: March 2020

Responsibilities: Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Key skills: A former senior executive with over 40 years’ of broad international financial services experience, including 20 years as CEO and board member in private banking, wholesale banking, capital markets, trading operations, strategy and finance.

Contributions: Risk management and how this interacts with strategy and operations, technical expertise valued in Board discussions.

Current directorships: Chair of Revolut NewCo UK Ltd, non-executive director of Itau BBA and a trustee of the Barry and Peggy High Charitable Foundation.

Aileen Wallace – Independent non-executive director

Appointed: December 2022

Responsibilities: Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

Key skills: Experienced non‑executive with a wealth of transformational experience including business build-out and digitally-enabled growth.

Contributions: Enhancing Board discussions focused on technology, innovation and change.

Current directorships: Non-executive Director of Columbia Threadneedle and Threadneedle Asset Management, Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Board Risk Committee of Tandem Bank, Chair of the Board Risk Committee at Target Tech Mahindra and non-executive director of Weatherbys Bank Limited.