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Board of Directors and Executive Committee

Board of Directors

The biographies of each member of the Board are shown here and serve to demonstrate why the skills and experience of each director contribute to our long term and sustainable success.

  • Brendan McCafferty - Chair and Independent Non-Executive Director

    Appointed: Independent non-executive director in September 2024 and Chair of the Board in March 2025.

    Board committees: Nominations (Chair) and Remuneration

    Skills and experience: Brendan is a chartered management accountant with over 30 years’ senior leadership experience in regulated financial services businesses. Brendan is also Chair of Nest Corporation (National Employment Savings Trust) and a specialist insurance business.

    From Brendan’s previous roles as CEO, he has experience leading major transformational change in financial services organisations, and Brendan understands how to best engage government and the other stakeholders we work with. Brendan believes his experience and strategic leadership will help us achieve our purpose.

    Roles and responsibilities: As Chair, Brendan leads the Board and oversees our performance as a business to make sure our strategy is on track to deliver for our members. As Chair of the Nominations Committee, Brendan makes sure the Board and senior leadership team have the right mix of skills and experience now and in the future.

    Other roles:

    • Chair of Nest Corporation
    • Chair of Academy Insurance Services and its connected entities
    • Trustee of Blueprint for Better Business Trust
    • Trustee of Catholic Diocese of Salford and its connected entities

  • Annette Barnes - Interim Chief Executive Officer

    Appointed: Independent non-executive director in February 2019. Interim CEO in June 2025.

    Skills and experience: Annette has over 35 years’ experience in financial services, including senior leadership experience - as a CEO, managing director and Board member. She is also a non-executive director for Stratos Markets Limited.

    Annette's experience in financial services, aligned with her background in customer engagement, people leadership and technology, has given her strong commercial and strategic skills, especially in transformation and change, which will be an important factor in the Society's forthcoming core transformation journey. Annette has been a director at the Society since 2019, and is passionate about our purpose - putting home ownership within reach of more people, generation after generation.

    Roles and responsibilities: Annette oversees the day to day running of the Society, leads the management team and delivers our purpose to make sure we’re operating in the best interests of our members and key stakeholders. She also works closely with the Chair and the Board to agree and deliver against our long-term strategy.

    Other roles:

    • Non-Executive Director, Chair of Remuneration and Nominations committees of Stratos Markets Ltd

  • Farah Buckley - Independent Non-Executive Director

    Appointed: April 2023.

    Board committees: Audit (Chair) and Board Risk

    Skills and experience: Farah has had a successful executive career, with a focus on private equity and corporate finance, most recently with Hermes GPE and Schroder Adveq. This has given her extensive experience in audit, investment, strategy, risk and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance).

    Farah has spent more than 23 years working in financial services and has held a variety of Board roles including several non-executive positions. Her experience, skills and insight as a chartered accountant mean she can effectively monitor the integrity of our external financial reporting.

    Roles and responsibilities: As Chair of the Audit Committee, Farah makes sure our financial statements are fair, balanced and include all the information needed to assess our performance. She is also our ‘whistleblowing’ champion and ensures our culture welcomes open and transparent discussions.

    Other roles:

    • Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee of Aurora UK Alpha plc
    • Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit Committee of Caledonia Investments plc
    • Non-Executive Director and Chair of Remuneration Committee of Apollo Syndicate Management Limited

  • David Fisher - Non-Independent Non-Executive Director

    Appointed: March 2012.

    Skills and experience: David has had a career in financial services for more than 30 years in a variety of senior roles including CEO of Sainsbury’s Bank. In this time, David has developed a great deal of knowledge in retail financial services. He also has a strong understanding of risk management, pensions and human resources.

    David’s wide-ranging Board-level commercial experience enables him to provide both a strategic and an operational perspective on the challenges that the Society faces. He also has a great deal of knowledge in retail financial services which is useful as we continue to expand our branch network.

    Roles and responsibilities: David’s role is to provide challenge and scrutiny to make sure we are financially resilient and have systems in place to manage risks appropriately. David’s been a long-standing member of the Board, and he continues to provide insight at both Board and Board committee meetings.

  • Neil Fuller - Independent Non-Executive Director

    Appointed: Independent non-executive director in December 2020 and Interim Senior Independent Director in June 2025.

    Board committees: Board Risk (Chair), Audit, Nominations and Remuneration

    Skills and experience: Neil has over 40 years’ experience of retail banking and financial services, most recently as Executive Director and Chief Risk Officer at Bank of Ireland UK PLC and GE Capital Bank. Prior to this he has held a variety of roles including Risk Director and Chief Risk Officer in the UK Retail Division of NatWest/RBS.

    Neil’s previous experience as Chief Risk Officer at different organisations gives him a strong understanding of risk management and risks that have the potential to impact the Society’s operations.

    Roles and responsibilities: As Senior Independent Director he provides support and guidance to the Chair. As Chair of the Board Risk Committee, Neil helps monitor the Society’s exposure to potential risk. Neil works with the committee to oversee the delivery and effectiveness of our risk management frameworks and promote a risk aware culture within the Society. The ethics of a mutual are important to Neil and he very much enjoys working with the Society.

    Other roles:

    • Non-Executive Director and Chair of Board Risk Committee of Cynergy Bank plc

  • Andrew Greenwood - Deputy Chief Executive Officer

    Appointed: Executive Director in January 2015 and Deputy Chief Executive Officer in May 2021.

    Skills and experience: Andrew has worked at the Society since 1998, joining as a solicitor but progressing into a variety of senior roles since then including Chief Risk Officer. He’s also Chair of our Inclusion Steering Committee, which supports the delivery of our inclusion and diversity strategy.

    After 27 years’ working at the Society, Andrew has developed strong knowledge of the organisation, its people and culture. He also has extensive experience in risk management and strategy which supports our growth ambitions.

    Roles and responsibilities: Andrew is responsible for the Customer division, and Property and Business Services function. He also leads on managing our climate-related risks and our climate transition plans, as we move forward in our net zero journey. Andrew is a member of several risk-focused committees and Chair of the Cost Optimisation Group, which aims to deliver our annual cost plan, making sure the Society manages costs effectively.

    Other roles:

    • Non-Executive Director of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
    • Non-Executive Director of Shared Ownership Code Limited

  • Rob Howse - Chief Operating Officer

    Appointed: Chief Operating Officer in September 2019 and Executive Director in May 2021.

    Skills and experience: Rob has spent much of his career working in senior executive roles in technology, operations and transformation at Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and McKinsey and Company. His earlier career included time serving as an officer in the Royal Navy.

    Rob brings a wealth of experience in retail banking, technology and strategy as well as specialist knowledge in the design and execution of transformation and technology programmes. Over the last six years in the Society, Rob has used this expertise to strengthen our resilience, improve our mortgage systems and lay the technology foundations for our future success.

    Roles and responsibilities: As Chief Operating Officer Rob is responsible for the Society’s technology, transformation and operational resilience. A key priority is the successful delivery of our multi-year technology transformation programme, which includes building a replacement core banking system that will ensure we have capable and robust systems to keep us ahead of future customer and market expectations.

    Other roles:

    • Member of the UK Finance Digital, Technology and Cyber Product and Service Board
    • Vice Chair of Governors, Trustee and Director of The Grammar School at Leeds

  • Pam Rowland - Independent Non-Executive Director

    Appointed: May 2023

    Board committees: Remuneration (Chair), Audit, Board Risk and Nominations

    Skills and experience: Pam is a chartered banker with over 30 years’ financial services experience in operations and transformation roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at Paragon Banking Group Plc.

    Pam has experience promoting a strong customer-centric and people focused culture within organisations. Pam’s knowledge and experience of financial services operations and transformation programmes help her support the Board and the Society, particularly as we move to a new core banking system over the next few years.

    Roles and responsibilities: As Interim Chair of the Remuneration Committee, Pam makes sure the Society has the right reward structures in place to support our culture as a mutual and to attract and retain the talent we need to deliver our purpose. As colleague engagement champion she regularly meets with colleagues to discuss their experiences and raise their views to the Board to drive change and positive action.

    Other roles:

    • Non-Executive Director and Chair of Remuneration Committee of Saga Services Ltd

  • Anita Tadayon - Independent Non-Executive Director

    Appointed: October 2021

    Board committees: Board Risk 

    Skills and experience: In her career Anita has held a number of senior roles and have a wide range of expertise combining technology, strategy and change. She has worked in senior roles in transformation, digital and technology for Sky, British Gas and BT Business.

    Anita is passionate about the values associated with mutuality and she continues to bring further strength and diversity to the Board. Anita has a wide knowledge of the development and design of customer journeys, and she is dedicated to ensuring our members’ needs are a key area of focus.

    Roles and responsibilities: As consumer duty champion, Anita provides oversight of conduct and ensures we deliver positive member outcomes. With over 25 years’ knowledge and experience she adds value to Board discussions, particularly in transformation, strategy and IT/digital areas to help support the Society on our digital journey.

    Other roles:

    • Director of Planning, Transformation and Performance at Virgin Media O2
    • Director of Tadayon Consulting Limited

Executive Committee

All executive directors of the Society serve as members of the Executive Committee, alongside the Chief Officers.

  • Jon Bailey - Interim Chief Financial Officer

    Jon joined the Society in 2022 and has over 15 years' experience in financial services across all areas of Finance in both building society and banking institutions. Since joining the Society, he has had responsibility for financial planning, financial reporting and third party management. Since stepping into the Chief Financial Officer role on an interim basis, his remit expanded to include Credit Risk and Treasury. Jon is also Chair of the Balance Sheet Optimisation Group.

  • Caroline Dale - Chief Internal Auditor

    Caroline is a chartered accountant and trained at KPMG, where she spent eight years delivering and managing external audits and other assurance work in the financial services industry. She joined the Society in May 2015 and since then has held several internal audit and finance leadership roles. She was appointed Chief Internal Auditor and joined the Executive Committee on 1 November 2023. Caroline is responsible for leading an independent and effective Internal Audit function, which provides oversight and challenge of the risk and control environment. It gives assurance to the Society’s Board and management team, to support them in delivering its purpose.

  • Geraldine Kemp-Klotz - Chief People Officer

    Geraldine joined the Society in September 2024 and was appointed permanently to the role of Chief People Officer in July 2025. She has over 20 years’ global experience across universal banking. She has diversified strategic capabilities, combining deep industry knowledge with expertise in people and culture. Prior to joining the Society, Geraldine spent 11 years at Barclays Bank PLC in London and New York.

    Geraldine also spent over ten years with Citigroup and Visa Inc. in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), and Asia Pacific. Geraldine is a strong advocate of healthy inclusive workplaces and empowering colleagues, which she champions across financial services as a member of the UK Financial Services Skills Commission Board.

  • Andy Moody - Chief Commercial Officer

    Andy joined the Society in 2012 and has held the roles of Director of Credit Risk, Deputy Chief Risk Officer and more recently Chief Commercial Officer, in which he has responsibility for our products and their distribution, our digital channels, brand and marketing, strategy and corporate affairs. Andy’s prior experience includes senior risk, commercial and consulting roles across PwC, Skipton Building Society, Northern Rock, National Australia Bank and Bradford & Bingley. Andy is Chair of the Credit Committee.

  • Victoria Reid - Chief of Staff

    Victoria has worked in financial services for over 23 years, with experience in a variety of leadership roles across Customer, Commercial and Operational Divisions. Victoria leads the Executive Office and, in doing so, acts as the strategic partner and right-hand person to the Chief Executive Officer, and Executive Committee more broadly. She drives alignment across executive priorities, accelerating decision-making, and ensuring operational excellence throughout the Society.

  • Katherine Tong - Chief Risk Officer and Secretary

    Katherine joined the Society in 2001 and initially carried out some operational roles before moving to the Risk Division. As a head of department in Risk, she had responsibility for several different teams, before, more recently, operating as the Director of Compliance, Legal, Risk and Secretary.

    In Q4 2025, Katherine was appointed as Chief Risk Officer and from 1 January 2026 formally replaced Andy Mellor. Her wealth of experience will greatly strengthen the Executive Committee, having worked across a number of areas including legal and regulatory compliance, risk management, and Board and corporate governance.

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