Non-Exec Directors appointed to support our new strategy

Mutual Vision (MV) are delighted to announce the appointment of a new team of independent Non-Executive Directors to the MV Board – Stephen Mitcham, Sarah Pierman and Kevin Mountford. Stephen, Sarah, and Kevin will be working closely with the newly appointed Executive Directors to implement MV’s unique and disruptive new business strategy to become the Digital Mutual. MV is unique in being a technology business that is owned by its customer community which ideally positions MV as the natural provider of the digital platform and ecosystem for the sector.

MV’s Chairman, Ashvin Pathak commented: “we could not be happier with the appointment of Stephen, Sarah and Kevin to MV’s Board as, together, they bring an unparalleled blend of complementary skills, experiences and perspectives to the business.”

Stephen brings a wealth of financial services sector knowledge with particularly deep experience of the mutual sector. Stephen started his career at Lloyds Bank then moved on to Nationwide Building Society before spending 30 years at Cambridge Building Society where he became Chief Executive in 2007. While at The Cambridge, Stephen led a radical rebranding exercise and a digital transformation of all aspects of the Society’s business operations. As an ardent believer in the benefits offered by the mutual ownership model Stephen is a committed supporter of the Building Societies Association and was honoured to become the organisation’s Chairman in 2018.

Sarah is an entrepreneur and Non-Executive Director, with experience in banking and technology start-ups. Sarah is a trailblazer, having reached Director level in RBS’s SME lending team by age 25. Sarah then moved into a career in tech start-ups, went on to become a Non-Executive Director on the board of a specialist bank age 29, and was shortlisted for the Sunday Times ‘NED to watch’ award in 2019. Alongside her Board work, she recently launched Dynamic Boards to inspire a greater mix of people to consider applying to join UK Boards. Sarah graduated in Mathematics at Oxford University and joins Mutual Vision with a passion for purpose driven business and with a desire to equip our UK Building Societies with the tech they need to compete in an increasingly digital banking market.

Kevin has held a range of senior management and executive roles within financial services businesses over the past 20 years including Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Birmingham Midshires where he was Head of Sales and Marketing for their Savings business. Kevin also worked as Head of Affinities for HBOS where he was responsible for a broad range of third-party relationships and held Director positions in HBOS Joint Ventures. More recently, Kevin worked for moneysupermarket.com where he became recognised as a respected industry spokesperson, promoting the business via press, radio and TV media. In 2011, Kevin founded a FinTech called Plan B Funding which secured numerous prestigious clients before co-founding Raisin UK which is now part of one of Europe’s leading FinTech businesses.

On the appointment of the new team of Non-Executive Directors, MV’s CEO Rich Wainwright said: “Stephen, Sarah and Kevin not only bring an intimate knowledge of the financial services sector and an appreciation of the value of mutuality, but also a diversity of perspectives and an entrepreneurial desire to disrupt established norms. This will be so valuable to MV in realising our vision to become the Digital Mutual and I look forward to working with them all to build a formidable leadership team.”

Stephen, Sarah and Kevin will be replacing the current MV Non-Executive Directors who represent the interests of the shareholder customers – Will Carroll (CEO Monmouthshire Building Society), Tim Bowen (CEO Penrith Building Society) and George McGrady (CFO Harpenden Building Society). As part of the new business and governance structure, an innovative new Shareholder Forum has been established which provides the environment in which customer shareholders can meet regularly and contribute to the MV strategy. The new Non-Executive Directors will sit on the MV Board to represent the interests of the Shareholder Forum, and to bring external perspectives and insights to the leadership team.

Ashvin Pathak, MV’s Chairman concluded: “I would like to thank Will, Tim and George for providing unwavering support to the MV leadership team over recent years and look forward to their continued presence through the MV Shareholder Forum. I am sure that the above changes will bring a great deal of energy, skill and experience to the MV board and will help to accelerate MV’s growth and development over the coming years.”