Introducing
Our Board
Dan O'Connor
Chairman
Age:
58
Appointed:
Dan joined the Board on 2 January 2015
Committees:
Nomination Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
Dan was previously a non-executive director of CRH plc and Chairman of Allied Irish Banks plc from July 2009 to October 2010. In addition, Dan spent 10 years as CEO of GE Consumer Finance Europe and was Senior Vice President of General Electric. He was also a non-executive director of one of Turkey’s largest banks, Garanti Bank. Dan is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and has a Master’s Degree in Accounting. He is a non-executive director of Glanbia plc and Activate Capital Ltd.
Key strengths and contributions:
Dan has over 30 years’ experience in large international and financial services businesses and provides strong strategic leadership in his role as Chairman.
Gerard Ryan
Chief Executive Officer
Age:
53
Appointed:
Gerard joined the Board on 17 January 2012
Committees:
Disclosure Committee, Executive Committee, Nomination Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
Gerard was previously CEO for Citigroup’s consumer finance businesses in the Western Europe, Middle East and Africa region. He was a director of Citi International plc, Egg plc and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney UK. Earlier in his career, Gerard was CFO of Garanti Bank, Turkey and CEO of GE Money Bank, Prague. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.
Key strengths and contributions:
Gerard has over 25 years’ multi-country experience in consumer financial services and provides the Company with strong leadership.
Tony Hales CBE
Senior independent non-executive director
Age:
69
Appointed:
Tony joined the Board at the time of demerger in July 2007
Committees:
Audit and Risk Committee, Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
Tony was previously Chairman of Canal & River Trust, Chief Executive of Allied Domecq plc, Chairman of Workspace Group plc and NAAFI, and a non-executive director of Provident Financial plc, Welsh Water plc, Aston Villa plc, HSBC Bank plc and Reliance Security Group plc. He graduated in Chemistry from the University of Bristol and is currently Chairman of the Greenwich Foundation, a non-executive director of Capital & Regional plc, a board member of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and The Services Sound and Vision Corporation. He is also a director of Welsh National Opera Limited and chairs NAAFI Pension Fund Trustees.
Key strengths and contributions:
Tony has strong business expertise, having been a chairman and non-executive director in profit and non-profit sectors. He has extensive knowledge of our business as well as having chaired and been a member of various committees since appointment.
Justin Lockwood
Chief Financial Officer
Age:
48
Appointed:
Justin joined the Board on 23 February 2017
Committees:
Disclosure Committee, Executive Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
Justin was the Company’s Group Head of Finance for seven years before being appointed to the Board as Chief Financial Officer. He previously held senior finance roles at Associated British Ports and Marshalls plc having spent the first 10 years of his career working for PwC in the UK and Australia. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and graduated from the University of Cardiff with a degree in Business Administration.
Key strengths and contributions:
Justin has over 15 years’ experience in a variety of senior financial management roles and has a detailed understanding of the Group’s businesses and its markets. He provides the Company with strong financial leadership.
John Mangelaars
Independent non-executive director
Age:
53
Appointed:
John joined the Board on 22 July 2015
Committees:
Nomination Committee, Technology Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
John worked previously for Microsoft for over 20 years specialising, in more recent years,
in the sales and marketing of online products, MSN Messenger, Hotmail and Bing. He graduated from the Higher School of Economics in The Hague, Netherlands, with a Bachelor in Information and Communication Technology (B ICT) and is currently the CEO of online travel agency Travix International.
Key strengths and contributions:
John has considerable experience in sales and e-commerce, which will support expansion of our digital lending business and the Company’s objective to increase its technology capabilities.
Richard Moat
Independent non-executive director
Age:
63
Appointed:
Richard joined the Board on 1 July 2012
Committees:
Audit and Risk Committee, Remuneration Committee, Technology Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
Richard was previously Deputy CEO and CFO of Everything Everywhere Limited, the UK’s largest mobile telecoms company. He was Managing Director of T-Mobile UK Limited and Chief Executive of Orange Romania SA, Orange Denmark A/S, Orange Thailand Limited and Eircom Limited. He was previously Chair of the ACCA Accountants for Business Global Forum and Trustee of the Peter Jones Foundation. He holds a Diploma in Corporate Finance and Accounting from London Business School and has a Master’s (Honours) Degree in Law from St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He is currently an advisory board member of Tiaxa, Inc. Chile.
Key strengths and contributions:
Richard has more than 25 years’ international telecoms experience in senior management roles and provides financial and operational expertise along with international experience.
Cathryn Riley
Independent non-executive director
Age:
55
Appointed:
Cathryn joined the Board on 12 February 2014
Committees:
Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee, Technology Committee
Appointments and qualifications:
Previously, Cathryn was Group Chief Operations Officer at Aviva plc. Other roles with Aviva included Group CIO, UK Commercial Director, COO and Customer Experience Director of UK Life, plus she was chair of Aviva Healthcare UK Ltd, Aviva Global Services and Hill House Hammond. Her other roles included General Manager of Transformation at BUPA and a principal consultant in the financial services division at Coopers & Lybrand. She has an MA in Manpower Studies, completed CeDEP’s General Management Programme, was a graduate of the Institute of Personnel/HR Management and is currently a non-executive director of Chubb European Group Ltd, Chubb Underwriting Agencies Ltd, The Equitable Life Assurance Society as well as Chair of AA Insurance Services Ltd.
Key strengths and contributions:
Cathryn has over 20 years’ experience in insurance and financial services, together with international roles. She is an experienced non-executive director, having sat on the board of The Equitable Life Assurance Society since 2009 and also serving as Chair of its Remuneration Committee. She brings a wealth of experience in major IT transformation programmes, implementing new distribution channels and customer service.
Deborah Davis
Independent non-executive director
Age:
55
Appointed:
Deborah joined the Board on 18 October 2018
Committees:
Appointments and qualifications:
Deborah is currently a non-executive director of The Institute of Directors and Which? Limited in the UK, IDEX Biometrics in Norway, and is a Trustee of Southern African Conservation Trust in South Africa. Deborah was previously Vice President of Global Partnerships, and Vice President of Global Risk Operations at PayPal based in London and Vice President of European Operations for eBay Marketplaces based in Germany.
Key strengths and contributions:
Deborah has wide ranging non-executive director experience in fintech, consumer and technology businesses undergoing digital transformation, growth and geographic expansion.
Bronwyn Syiek
Independent non-executive director
Age:
54
Appointed:
Bronwyn joined the Board on 18 October 2018
Committees:
Appointments and qualifications:
Bronwyn is currently a Trustee of The SETI Institute, a U.S. based non-profit scientific research institute and significant contractor to NASA. Bronwyn was previously the executive President and a board member of QuinStreet Inc., having been its Chief Operating Officer. A NASDAQ-listed company, QuinStreet is a leader in online performance marketing products and technologies, serving a number of sectors including financial services. Bronwyn also served on the management committee of De La Rue, a major European provider of on and off-line security products and services, and before that was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, Inc.
Key strengths and contributions:
Bronwyn has executive director experience in online consumer marketing and technology, and scientific research organisations, and board experience in education.