Management

Appointment:
Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society since April 2016.

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Joe Garner joined Nationwide as CEO in April 2016, inspired by the Society’s principle of mutuality and service ethos.

Consumer-focussed organisations have been at the heart of Joe’s working life. He spent his early career with consumer products companies, Procter & Gamble and Dixons Carphone. He was then invited to lead several large organisations, first as Head of HSBC’s UK retail and commercial businesses from 2010 to 2012, then in 2015 he became CEO at Openreach, the UK’s digital infrastructure provider.

Joe is a Director of UK Finance (NewTA Limited), and a member of the Financial Conduct Authority Practitioner Panel, having previously been its Chair from 2011 to 2013. He was also a non-executive director of the Financial Ombudsman Service from 2007 to 2010.

Since joining Nationwide, Joe’s mission has been to inspire colleagues to remain true to the Society’s social purpose; using the power of the collective to improve people’s lives. Joe is passionate about the purpose that we share of ‘building society, nationwide’.

Joe is Chairman of the British Triathlon Trust. He lives in South London with his wife and son.

Appointment:
Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since April 2009.

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Chris is Nationwide's Chief Product and Propositions Officer. Chris joined Nationwide in April 2009 from Abbey Santander, where he was Director of Retail Distribution for Alliance and Leicester (A&L). Chris has spent 29 years working in the financial services sector and his previous positions include Deputy Managing Director of Girobank and Retail Operations Director of A&L. In 2003 he was appointed as Managing Director Retail Banking for the entire A&L Group. In 2007 Chris moved to become Group Finance Director, a role he held until the merger with Santander in 2008. Chris is a board member of National Numeracy and the Lending Standards Board.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since July 2012.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Rita holds a number of non executive roles including at ASOS and Ascential plc and is a former non executive director of Dixons Retail plc (now Dixons Carphone plc) and Emap plc. She sits on the Assurance and Advisory Board for BP’s carbon off-setting programme and is a trustee of the Henley Festival. Rita has over 20 years’ senior management experience in a range of roles, with an expertise in demonstrating how brand is an integral part of long-term business strategy and in analysing and understanding consumer perceptions and behaviour. Her executive career has been in advertising, strategic marketing and market research; she was previously London CEO then Chairman at Interbrand, and Vice Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi. During her career Rita has advised, at the most senior level, some of the UK’s best known organisations, including British Airways, Barclays, BT, Citigroup, Visa and the British Army.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since July 2011.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Mitchel has spent over 30 years in the financial services industry and is a former Group Chief Information Officer at Deutsche Bank with responsibility for IT and Operations for all operating divisions of the bank, including its retail banking operations. Mitchel was a member of the Executive Committee for both the Corporate and Investment Bank and the Private Client and Asset Management Division. He has also previously served as Managing Director, Global Head of Operations & Operations IT at UBS Warburg and as Director, Group Operations at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mitchel was a partner of Olivant & Co, an investment company providing strategic and operational expertise alongside investment capital to financial services businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and was a non executive director of NYFIX, a NASDAQ listed company and BCS an AIM listed company. Mitchel is currently a non executive director of Currency Cloud.

Appointment:
Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since August 2007.

Independent: No

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Tony is Nationwide’s Deputy Chief Executive and is accountable for the development of the Society’s Strategy, together with its FinTech Innovation and Venturing Programmes. In addition, he leads Digital Transformation across the business, including having accountability for the Mobile, Digital and Open Banking channels. Alongside his strategic development roles, Tony is accountable for the leadership of the Society’s branch network, contact centres, intermediary distribution, collections and recoveries, social, chat and video operations and in addition leads the Society’s regulated advice channels where he is responsible for the distribution of mortgages and investment products across the Society. He was previously Group Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Nationwide he previously held a number of senior executive roles at Barclays PLC, including Managing Director Home Finance and Retail Support and Operations Director and was a member of both Woolwich plc and Barclays Retail Banking Executive Committees. Tony is a Director of Opportunity Now the BITC campaign for gender diversity and is also a Trustee of the Nationwide Foundation.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since July 2011 and Senior Independent Director since July 2016.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Lynne, a former Chief Executive of National Australia Bank’s (NAB) UK business and Chief Executive of Woolwich plc, has over 25 years’ senior management experience in a range of roles comprising brand development, mergers & acquisitions, change management and business transformation, including almost 20 years at Board level. During her time at NAB, Lynne was responsible for its businesses in the UK consisting of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks. She became Chief Executive of Woolwich plc in October 2000 following its takeover by the Barclays Bank Group, having previously held a number of senior management and board positions at the Woolwich Building Society, both before and after its conversion to a public listed company in 1997. Lynne is a non executive director of Serco Group Plc and Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc. She is a trustee of the Westminster Society for People with Learning Difficulties.

Appointment:
Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since February 2007.

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Mark, a chartered accountant, is the Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for Finance and Efficiency, including Treasury and Supply Chain Management. He is also a director of various Society subsidiaries and Chair of the BBA Financial Risk and Policy Committee. Prior to his appointment, Mark was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he worked in the financial services practice with a specific focus on retail and corporate banking; whilst in professional practice, Mark also worked extensively with group treasury operations, leasing and asset finance businesses.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director and Chairman Elect of Nationwide Building Society since September 2014. Chairman since July 2015.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
David joined Nationwide on 1 September 2014 and took over as Chairman in July 2015. From 2010 to 2014 he was on the Board of Lloyds Banking Group, where he was Group Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Board Risk Committee. David has many years of experience at board and executive level in retail and commercial banking in the UK and internationally. He joined Barclays in 1983 and held various senior management positions culminating in Executive Director, member of the Group Executive Committee and Chief Executive, International Retail and Commercial Banking, a position he held until December 2006. He is a former non executive director of BAA plc and Absa Group SA, and was Chairman and Chief Executive of Bawag PSK AG, Austria’s second largest retail bank. David is Vice Chair of NHS England, Chairman of Beazley plc, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Financial Services and holds an MBA and Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Henley Business School.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since June 2015.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Mai is currently Sky’s Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer responsible for leading strategy across the Sky Group. She is also responsible for business development, negotiating agreements with third party channels included as part of Sky’s retail offering and for the distribution of Sky’s channels to other platforms. Prior to joining Sky in 1999, Mai spent eight years working as an economic advisor to blue-chip companies in a number of different industries, both in the UK and the USA. Mai is also a non-executive director of Roku, a US listed entity.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since June 2015.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Tim is a Chartered Accountant with strong experience of major retail financial services organisations. He has significant Board experience and became Chairman of the Society’s Board Risk Committee in July 2015. Tim is Chief Financial Officer of Quilter PLC. Tim is a former Chief Financial Officer at Friends Life Group Ltd, a position he held from 2012 until the sale of the business to Aviva in April 2015. Prior to joining Friends Life, he was Group Finance Director of Lloyds Banking Group between 2008 and 2012, having been appointed as Deputy Group Finance Director upon joining the bank in 2006. From 2002 to 2006, he was Finance Director of Prudential PLC’s UK business and from 1996 to 2002 he held the role of Group Finance Director at Heath Lambert Group.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since May 2016.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Kevin has enjoyed a long and successful career in the financial sector and professional practice in both Executive and Non-Executive roles. He is Chairman of Intermediate Capital Group plc; Senior Independent Director of Standard Life Aberdeen plc and is a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of Daily Mail and General Trust plc. He is also Chairman of the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since January 2017.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Usha has a 45-year career spanning the public, not-for-profit and broadcasting sectors. One of the UK’s most experienced policy advisors, she has led a number of high profile public and voluntary organisations.

Usha is currently a Member of the Home Building Review Panel. She is also Deputy Chair of the British Council, where she also chairs their Remuneration Committee, and Honorary President of UK Community Foundations.

Previously, she has also held Non-Executive Director positions at ITV, the Cabinet Office, Unite PLC, Channel 4, Energy Saving Trust and Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith Health Authority. She has also held senior positions at the Salzburg Seminar, National Literacy Trust, Royal Commonwealth Society and was the inaugural Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission.

Appointment:
Non Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society since June 2017.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Gunn Waersted, is a senior financial services executive with a 35-year career spanning financial services, telecommunications and petrochemicals. Gunn is currently Chairman of Norwegian telecommunications firm Telenor, where she is Chair of the People and Governance Committee and a member of the Sustainability and Compliance Committee. She is also Chairman of Petoro, a firm owned by the Norwegian government and responsible for managing the state's oil and gas portfolio.

Throughout her career she has held senior positions within a range of large financial institutions, including DNB, SpareBank1 and most recently at Nordea, where she was a member of the Group Executive Management, CEO of the Wealth Management Division and Country Manager for Norway. She was born in Norway and has an MBA from Oslo Business School.