Board of Directors

Joined Virgin Money UK PLC:

October 2015 and became Board Chair May 2020

Skills, experience and contribution:

• Deep experience gained over 40 years in retail banking & financial services
• Extensive experience in strategic planning and implementation
• Significant board governance experience including at chair level
• Credibility with stakeholders
• Strong leadership qualities

David is an experienced Board Chair and Non-Executive Director. He brings extensive experience of retail banking, strategy, risk management, corporate activity and organisation, operational and structural change gained from his long career in financial services. He has the governance expertise and external insight required to lead an effective Board which is critical to the long-term success of Virgin Money. Prior to becoming Board Chair in 2020, David had been Deputy Board Chair since 2015 and therefore has the experience of Virgin Money and track record needed to support the Board and executive in delivering the medium and longer-term strategy. David is also a Non-Executive Director of Virgin Money’s parent company, Nationwide Building Society.

His extensive business career includes time as Group Finance Director of Alliance & Leicester plc for six years before becoming its Group Chief Executive. Following the acquisition of Alliance & Leicester plc by Banco Santander he was Executive Director on the Board of Abbey National plc. He was formerly Chairman of Homeserve Membership Limited and Together Financial Services Limited, was a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Bank of Ireland (UK) PLC, Chairman of Ashmore Group plc and has significant Non-Executive Director experience in listed environments which has included easyJet plc and CMC Markets PLC. During his time at easyJet plc, David advocated research into alternatives to jet fuel and reducing fuel consumption in order to reduce the impact aviation has on climate change. David has experience working with various charities, supporting and promoting sustainability throughout the industry.

Key external appointments:

Chairman of Allfunds Group plc, Non-Executive Director of Nationwide Building Society, PayPal (Europe) S.a.r.l et Cie, S.C.A and of Paypal Digital Inc, Chair of PayPal UK Ltd and Non-Executive Board member of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Joined Virgin Money UK PLC:

January 2024

Skills, experience and contribution:

• An experienced Chief People Officer
• UK Listed Board experience as a Non-Executive Director
• Strong remuneration and corporate governance experience gained including over 16+ years of Remuneration Committee experience
• Experience in growth and transformation environments in large scale UK centric and international companies across a range of sectors including financial services and consumer-led industries

Lucinda is Chair of the Remuneration Committee with more than 25 years’ executive-level experience in human resources roles. She was Chief People & Corporate Responsibility Officer at AXA UK and Ireland, part of the AXA SA Group from 2015 to 2022 where her role included responsibility for developing the environmental and social aspects of the corporate responsibility strategy, and Group HR Director for Towergate Partnership Co Ltd from 2011 to 2014. Prior to this, Lucinda was Group Global HR Director for Hays Plc and has also previously held human resources roles at RAC PLC, Consumer Division and Vivendi SA.

External appointments:

Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee at The Rank Group plc and Non-Executive Director on the board of trustees for Business in the Community where she is also Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

Joined Virgin Money UK PLC:

July 2024

Skills, experience and contribution:

• Extensive banking and financial services industry experience both in The Netherlands and abroad
• Strong global and local risk management & compliance, corporate banking and sustainability knowledge and leadership expertise gained over 35 years
• Considerable executive and non-executive board and risk committee chair experience

Petra has extensive experience in the financial services industry both in executive and non-executive roles at Dutch and international banks.

She started her career in banking at ABN AMRO in 1986, in client relationship and product areas and moved into risk management at senior level. She lived and worked abroad for 14 years, in Madrid, Singapore, Frankfurt and New York, and returned to The Netherlands late 2006. There she served as global Head Sustainability for ABN AMRO in 2006-2007 and served as vice chair of the ABN AMRO Foundation and as member of the UN Advisory Council on Inclusive Financial Sectors. As the Royal Bank of Scotland acquired ABN AMRO in late 2007 (in a combined bid with Banco Santander and Fortis), Petra was appointed Chief Risk Officer (CRO) for RBS Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA).

Her most recent senior executive roles were CRO (covering risk management, compliance and legal) at the Management Board of NIBC (2011-2016), and Rabobank Group (2016-2019), followed by a year as CRO at the (then listed) Intertrust Group.

For well over 10 years Petra has had various non-executive board roles, including at the Nederlandse Waterschapsbank from 2015-2023 (including chair of the Risk Committee and member of the Audit Committee), within the Rabogroup at De Lage Landen Int BV from 2018-2019 DLL and at Utrecht America Holdings Inc from 2016-2019. At NIBC she served in the supervisory boards of NIBC Deutschland AG and NIBC Singapore Pte Ltd (2012-2016). During her time at RBS Petra held several intra group non-executive roles, including for RBS Moscow and RBS Middle East.

External appointments:

Member of the Supervisory Board, chair of the Risk and Compliance Committee and member of the Audit Committee at de Volksbank; non-executive board member, chair of the Risk and Compliance Committee and member of the Audit Committee at Nordea Bank; and non-executive board member, vice-chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Investment Committee and Impact Committee at Oranje Fonds.

Petra is also an advisor to the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate as chair of the Advisory Committee for Credit; a member of the Donations Review Committee of the Leiden University; a member of the board of the Foundation for the holding and administration of shares under the Royal Dutch Shell employee share plans, and a member of the board of the Female Cancer Foundation.

Joined Virgin Money UK PLC:

March 2021

Skills, experience and contribution:

• Extensive experience in leading disruptive technology organisations across a range of sectors and growth stages
• Proven track record in formulating and executing on digital strategy and transformation
• Deep understanding of delivering value within innovative customer-centric businesses
• Significant strategic and risk management experience

Elena’s extensive understanding of customer-centric digital first organisations and the technology ecosystem gained over a 20-year international career, brings a wealth of experience to the Board. Elena is the Global CEO of Freemium at DAZN Limited, a world leading sports entertainment platform and previously was Managing Director Europe Digital at Entain plc. Prior to that she was Executive Vice President of International at Remitly, a leading disruptor in the app first digital remittance space, appointed to internationalise, scale and drive company growth as a leading digital money transfer provider. Prior to this, Elena held senior tech product and general management positions at Expedia Inc. She also brings an invaluable strategic perspective from her time spent in the management consulting role at Strategy& (part of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP) as well as a strong financial acumen from her risk and debt finance roles at Barclays PLC.

Key external appointments:

Global CEO of Freemium at DAZN Limited.

Joined Virgin Money UK PLC:

September 2016

Skills, experience and contribution:

• Deep financial services experience including banking and insurance
• Considerable board experience including as an audit committee chair
• Deep knowledge of accounting, auditing and associated regulatory issues
• Chartered accountant and experienced Chief Financial Officer

Tim’s background as an experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO), his breadth of financial services experience and the industry knowledge he has gained from over 30 years at both executive and non-executive director level is excellent grounding for his role as Chair of the Audit Committee. His extensive accounting, financial services audit, prudential oversight and corporate governance knowledge, including considerable experience as an audit committee chair, strengthen the Board. Tim’s current roles are within companies in the financial services industry which have detailed commitments and programmes of work relating to ESG matters. His previous non-executive director roles include Macquarie Bank International Limited, Friends Life Group Limited, Monitise plc, The Access Bank UK Limited and Chubb Underwriting Agencies Limited. He was a Managing Director at AMP Group, responsible for both its Bank and the Virgin Direct (now Virgin Money) joint venture. Earlier in his career he was Group CFO at Colonial Limited in Melbourne, Australia where he oversaw the company’s IPO and was involved in its acquisition by Commonwealth Bank.

Key external appointments:

Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of RBC Europe Limited; Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of QBE Europe SA / NV, QBE Underwriting Limited and QBE UK Limited; and Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of ClearBank Group Holdings Limited.

Skills, experience and contribution:

• A chartered accountant with extensive retail and commercial banking experience gained over 30 years
• A well-regarded, influential and effective leader with significant strategic and financial leadership experience at executive and board level
• Deep understanding of the UK banking industry with expertise spanning the full spectrum of banking disciplines including finance, treasury, operations, retail distribution and risk management
• Experienced in leading large teams through transformational change that delivers value for customers

Chris became Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer on 1 October 2024 upon completion of the acquisition of Virgin Money by Nationwide Building Society (Nationwide). Before then he had been Chief Financial Officer of Nationwide since October 2019 having been a Nationwide Board member since April 2009. His broad background and extensive cross functional knowhow gained during his time at Nationwide means he is ideally placed to lead and integrate Virgin Money into the wider Nationwide Group.

Chris is a chartered accountant with over 30 years’ experience in retail and commercial banking having held senior leadership roles across finance, treasury, operations, retail distribution and risk management.

His previous positions include Group Finance Director of Alliance and Leicester Group, Board Director at Visa Europe and Deputy Managing Director for Girobank. He has been a Director of the Lending Standards Board and a Trustee of National Numeracy.

Key external appointments:

None