Bibby Financial Services

Bibby Financial Services has appointed Helen Norris as chief people and organisation officer.

In hew new role, she will help drive forward the company’s BFS 4.0 strategy, which aims to bring together people and technology to boost support for SMEs around the world.

She will report to Jonathan Andrew, CEO at Bibby Financial Services, as a member of the executive leadership team.

Helen, who has over 30 years of experience working within the financial services sector, joins the company from the British Business Bank, where she spent over three years as chief people officer.

Prior to this, she held senior HR and organisation roles at HSBC and Nationwide.

Commenting on her appointment, Helen said: “Bibby Financial Services is an incredibly forward-looking business, with a high-performing culture and ambitious strategy focused around its people. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining the company at such an important time in its strategic progression and look forward to meeting with colleagues and business partners over the coming weeks.”

Jonathan added: “I’m delighted to welcome Helen to Bibby Financial Services during what is a hugely exciting time for the business. 

“Attracting someone of Helen’s calibre, with such extensive and widespread experience of the financial services sector, is testament to our ambition.

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“Across the business, we have highly engaged and experienced colleagues delivering excellent service to our customers and developing innovative solutions for SMEs and business partners. 

“We want to continue to attract, develop and retain this core talent within the business. 

“Helen’s deep knowledge and understanding of our sector, coupled with her experience of implementing successful transformation and cultural change programmes will undoubtedly enable us to achieve this goal.”

PCF Bank

PCF Bank has appointed Simon Moore and Mark Sismey-Durrant as non-executive directors to the board, subject to regulatory approvals.

Simon is set to take up the role of chair of the board and the board nominations committee, while Mark will be the senior independent director and interim chair of the board risk committee.

Simon, who is also the chair of Cambridge & Counties Bank and RCI Bank UK, has extensive regulatory and financial services experience in consumer, SME, and corporate banking.

Throughout his career, he held roles at numerous companies, including Cambridge & Counties Bank, Barclays Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank.

Meanwhile, Mark — who is also chair of Cashplus Bank — has over 40 years of experience in banking with a particular focus on specialist challenger banking, having been CEO at Sun Bank, Heritable Bank and, most recently, Hampshire Trust Bank, over a period spanning 23 years.

Following the implementation of these appointments, Tim Franklin will step down as a director and chairperson by 31st January 2022.

Garry Stran, interim CEO at PCF Bank, said: “I would like to welcome Simon and Mark to the board, who I know will bring a new perspective and fresh ideas as we complete the resolution of historical issues and develop the future strategy for the group.

“Both Simon and Mark’s experiences within the banking sector will prove invaluable to the board as we look forward to the exciting challenges and opportunities for PCF Bank in 2022 and beyond.”