Rebecca Newman has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer from her previous position as Chief of Staff at the Society, whilst former COO, Ian Brighton, has become Head of Credit Management and Mortgages.
Rebecca’s new role combines her previous responsibilities with an additional operational remit, including change management and IT and information security. She will also take on responsibility for outsourcing and operational resilience which will sit within the newly defined CEO’s Office Team.
Explaining her plans for the future, Rebecca said: “My role is to ensure there are mechanisms in place to support our members, brokers and to successfully grow our business. We need the right systems, people and premises to continue to make the Society a success, and a key part of that will be through our digital transformation journey which will streamline the broker experience.”
Having already spent over thirty years working within the building society sector, Ian Brighton will be stepping away from the board and executive team to a more hands-on role utilising his experience and in-depth knowledge. Ian will be responsible for the entire mortgage lifecycle, from DIP to redemption, and the lending function will continue to report into him.
Rebecca Newman, Chief Operating Officer
Speaking on some of his other key responsibilities for the immediate future, Ian said: “Developing the Society’s lending strategy to further enhance our specialist offering will be an important priority. We’re always keen to focus on where we’re strongest – supporting brokers looking after niche borrowers, via our manual underwriting ethos. While we I’ll always retain our individual approach to applications, we’re also keen to enhance the Society’s service proposition, so I’m pleased to be leading the launch of a new mortgage origination platform later in the year.”
Ian Brighton, Head of Credit Management and Mortgages
Both roles are central to the Society’s ESG strategy, which includes developing the green finance agenda and climate change reporting, with Rebecca heading up the programme as Executive Sponsor.
Commenting on the appointments Richard Norrington, CEO added “I would like to congratulate Rebecca on her appointment, which is testament to her hard work and commitment in her six years at the Society, and am delighted with Ian’s transition into his new role. These changes further strengthen the Society’s operational and management structure as we ready ourselves for the years ahead.”