Skills and Experience
Rachel has 23 years of experience working in the Building Society sector including 8 years at Executive level. This has been followed by 8 years operating as a Non-Executive Director in the broader financial services sector as well as in the Public and Voluntary sectors.
After an 18 month period as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Leek Building Society, Rachel was appointed to the position of Independent Chair in April 2016. Since then she has overseen the reshaping of the Society’s Board, including the appointment of a new Chief Executive in 2018 and a number of additional Executive and Non-Executive Director changes.
Rachel has a career-long commitment to and understanding of the mutual sector and a passion for its ethos. She has a particular understanding of customer service transformation, operational efficiency and risk management, HR and remuneration, product development, sales, mortgage lending and the Intermediary market as a result of her previous roles, and has considerable experience of managing Regulatory engagement. As a leader, she brings a strong commitment to excellent team working and to building an open and constructive environment in which the interests of all stakeholders are fully considered in developing the Society’s strategy and overseeing its performance.
As well as Chairing the Board, Rachel also chairs the Board Nominations Committee and is a member of the Board Remuneration Committee.
Current external positions
Rachel currently holds the following external appointments:
Skills and Experience
Dave is an actuary with over 30 years’ experience in financial services within the UK and overseas including life insurance, pensions and investment platforms. He has served as a Director of various regulated companies in the sector over the last 14 years, including Phoenix Life, Abbey Life, SunLife, AXA Isle Of Man and AXA Wealth.
During his executive career, Dave has held a wide range of roles including Finance Director, Strategy Director and Chief Operations Officer. He was responsible for running large finance and operational teams and for driving commercial growth and strategic change across organisations.
Dave chairs the Board Risk Committee and is a member of the Board Audit Committee and the Board Nominations Committee.
Current external positions
Dave currently holds the following external appointments:
Skills and Experience
Jane is an internationally experienced Board Chief Information Officer / Information Technology Director with over 30 years of delivering significant transformation across a wide range of companies including financial services, retail and utilities. She led the successful merger of IT for several major companies following acquisitions.
With her experience in retail, Jane is a strong advocate of the customer at the heart of the business. Having managed large teams who were responsible for the development and performance of various major digital platforms, Jane is able to leverage her change and technical skills. Jane is passionate about the appropriate use and development of technology and works voluntarily encouraging children and adults to have a successful career in IT.
Jane is a former IT Director of BNP Paribas, a former IT Director of Domino’s Pizza, a former IT Director of Scottish and Newcastle/Spirit Group and a former IT Director of PowerGen (now E.ON). Jane is a former Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
Jane is Chair of the Board Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Board Risk Committee and Board Nominations Committee.
Current external positions
Jane currently holds the following external appointments:
Skills and Experience
Felicity is an audit and assurance professional who has specialised in financial services for over 25 years. She is a chartered accountant and accredited controls assurance provider who during her executive career has worked with building societies, banks, investment managers, custodians, administrators and pension schemes.
Immediately prior to taking up her role with the Society, Felicity was a partner in a global professional services firm and led numerous external and internal audit and controls assurance engagements, governance and regulatory reviews. She has also acted as the Head of Internal Audit for organisations and held a number of roles on committees for industry bodies. Felicity led a national team and her responsibilities included business and people development, risk and quality and relationship management.
Felicity is Chair of the Board Audit Committee and is a member of the Board Risk Committee and Board Remuneration Committee.
Current external positions
Skills and Experience
John has spent over 35 years in the building society sector with most of that time with the Skipton Building Society Group. He finished his executive career there in 2023 as Chief Conduct Risk Officer and Secretary where he was responsible for regulatory matters, a range of risk areas and Board governance. During his time at Skipton he held a range of other roles including Director of Group Risk, Group Commercial Director and General Manager Customer Services.
He served as an independent director on the boards of a range of Skipton subsidiaries including its IFA businesses, its international bank on the Channel Islands and chaired the boards of its Mortgaging Packaging firms and Internal Audit and IT outsourcing businesses.
John was co-opted onto the Board in January 2024 and is a member of the Board Audit Committee.
Current external positions
None.
Skills and Experience
Andy has twenty years’ experience in financial services across mutual, plc and consultancy organisations. Prior to joining Leek Building Society as Chief Executive Officer, he was Chief Strategy Officer at LSL Property Services plc and spent a significant part of his career at Coventry Building Society, where he served on the main Board as Product, Marketing and Strategy Director for several years.
Andy is a committed advocate of mutuality and purpose-led organisations more generally. He has either worked for - or as an adviser to - a number of building societies in the UK. Andy has a first class honours degree from the University of Nottingham and also holds an MBA from Warwick Business School.
Andy will be co-opted onto the Board in September 2024 and will also become a member of the Board Nominations Committee. Andy will attend the Board Risk Committee, Board Audit Committee and Board Remuneration Committee. In terms of management committees, Andy chairs the Executive Committee, Asset and Liability Committee, All Risks Committee, Credit Risk Forum and Change Programme Steering Committee.
Current external positions
None.
Skills and Experience
Darren has extensive expertise in the financial services industry having spent 18 years at a previous building society, with nine years at the executive level. His career started on the branch counter and he went on to undertake various roles culminating in the role of Chief Customer Officer where he oversaw branches, mortgage advice, intermediaries, and digital and product propositions. Having acquired professional qualifications from the ifs School of Finance, Darren furthered his education with a Master's Degree in Leadership and Management from Loughborough University in collaboration with the Building Societies Association.
Darren’s current responsibilities include the Branch Network, IT and Change, and Customer Operations, encompassing savings, mortgage, and administration support teams. His mandate extends to formulating IT, digital, operations, branch, and customer service strategies aligned with the Society's corporate plan.
Darren chairs the Conduct and Product Forum and Operational Resilience Forum, and is a member of the Executive Committee, All Risks Committee, Credit Risk Forum, Asset and Liability Committee, Change Programme Steering Committee and Pricing Forum. He is a member of the Board and attends the Board Risk Committee and Board Audit Committee.
Current external positions
None.
Skills and Experience
A Chartered Accountant for almost 20 years, Steve has more than 14 years of experience in the Building Society sector as well as significant experience in broader financial services.
Steve is responsible for managing the Society’s capital, funding and liquidity positions. Central to his role is ensuring the integrity of financial and regulatory reporting whilst ensuring the Society operates an effective stress testing framework. Steve also holds executive responsibility for managing the Society’s exposure to the financial risks associated with climate change and for championing the overall ESG agenda.
Steve chairs the Regulatory Reporting Forum, Pricing Forum and ESG Committee. He is also a member of the Executive Committee, Asset and Liability Committee, All Risks Committee, Credit Risk Forum and Change Programme Steering Committee.
Current external positions
None.
Skills and Experience
Andrew has over 35 years of treasury and risk management experience gained within the financial services sector. He joined the Society in January 2018 and was appointed to the Board in September 2021. His role is to ensure that the Society manages risk robustly and operates in line with its clearly defined risk management framework. In addition to having management responsibility for risk and compliance, he also acts as the Society’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Data Protection Officer.
Having started his career in the branch network of a clearing bank, Andrew then moved to the building society sector where he gained extensive treasury experience, becoming Assistant Treasurer in one of the country’s largest societies. More recently he held a senior risk management role covering market risk, liquidity risk and counterparty credit risk.
For the majority of his career, Andrew has worked within mutual organisations, reflecting his commitment to the sector and its ethos. He strongly believes that member owned organisations are best placed to provide real value to their members and positively impact the communities they serve.
Andrew is a member of the Executive Committee and All Risks Committee. He also attends the Board Risk Committee and Board Audit Committee, Credit Risk Forum, Asset and Liability Committee, Operational Resilience Forum and the Change Programme Steering Committee.
Current external positions
Rob joined Leek Building Society in September 2010 and has worked in a number of roles prior to his current position as HR Director where he has responsibility for the Society’s people agenda. He is also responsible for Marketing and Facilities. Rob’s breadth of experience across the Society uniquely positions him to support the development of our culture and staff engagement. He has been a member of the committee responsible for shaping the Society’s response to the pandemic, ensuring staff and member welfare have been paramount. Rob is a member of the Executive Committee, All Risks Committee, Conduct and Product Forum and Change Programme Steering Committee. He also attends the Board Nominations Committee and Board Remuneration Committee.
Helen, a Chartered Management Accountant with more than 20 years of experience in Finance across a number of sectors, has extensive senior level financial services expertise, most of which has been gained within the building society arena. She joined Leek Building Society in December 2014 and prior to becoming an executive director, Helen worked most recently as Head of Financial Planning & Analysis in the Finance function, a position which gave her significant exposure to the organisation’s business lines and operations. As Director of Lending, Helen has responsibility for our Intermediary and Direct Sales mortgage areas as well as Products.
Helen is a member of the Executive Committee, All Risks Committee, Asset and Liability Committee, Conduct and Product Forum, Credit Risk Forum, Change Programme Steering Committee and Pricing Forum.
