Board of Directors

Non-executive Directors

Lawrence Churchill CBE (Chairman) appointed 1 April 2012 for a three year term.

Most recently Chairman of the National Employment Savings Trust from January 2010 and a former Chief Executive of UK, Irish and International Life at Zurich Financial. He has also held senior roles in Unum, NatWest life and investments and Hambro Life/Allied Dunbar Assurance. He was appointed a Commander of the British Empire in the New Year’s Honours list in 2010 in recognition of his Public Service. Awarded a CBE in the 2010 New Year’s Honours list for services to public service.

Tony Ashford reappointed 1 February 2010 for a three-year term.

Currently the Chairman of the HSBC Pensions Trust and a Non-executive Director of AIB (UK) Limited and the Jubilee Sailing Trust. He worked for HSBC from 1985 until 2005, rising to the position of General Manager, Personal Banking and Executive Committee member in 2000. He previously worked for Thomas Cook and British Steel Corporation.

Liz Barclay appointed 1 July 2011 for a three-year term.

Liz Barclay is currently the writer and presenter of a number of programmes and documentaries for Radio 4, as well as being a personal finance and consumer rights columnist for The Independent on Sunday and various magazines. She is the author of several business books and runs MoneyAgonyAunt.com, a consumer and personal finance website and thebizkit.com a web-based service for small and medium-sized businesses. Additionally, she is Chair of Camden Citizens Advice Bureau Service, an ambassador for the Money Advice Trust and an honorary member of the Trading Standards Institute.

Jayne Nickalls appointed 1 July 2011 for a three-year term.

Most recently Chief Executive of Directgov, Jayne Nickalls spent the last six years leading the Directgov business (through the Cabinet Office and DWP) from start-up to an established, successful business that is now at the heart of the Government's digital strategy. It supports 18 Government departments and has links to 240 services. Previously she was responsible for the delivery function for Chordiant Software in northern Europe. There, she led and managed the delivery of a wide range of enterprise solutions to clients across a number of industries, particuarly financial services.

Rosalind Reston reappointed 1 February 2010 for a three-year term.

A solicitor, authorised insolvency practitioner and accredited mediator. Also a non-executive director of the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel. Until her recent retirement she was a partner at Lovells, where she had worked for 21 years. Whilst at Lovells, she was involved with banking, fraud and insolvency matters and acted for a wide variety of banks and other financial institutions.

Paul Stockton appointed 1 December 2011 for a three-year term.

Paul is currently Group Finance Director at Rathbone Brothers plc (a FTSE 250 company). He has gained exposure to a wide range of financial services businesses throughout his career. He has worked in the insurance sector and in his current role has gained considerable experience of private client fund management and asset management. Through his work in the industry he has developed a strong understanding of issues relating to financial services sales, consumer issues, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.

Max Taylor (Deputy Chairman) reappointed 31 August 2010 for a three-year term.

Recently retired from, and now adviser to, Insurance Broker Aon UK. Prior to joining Aon in January 2001, he completed a three-year term as Chairman of Lloyd's, the Insurance Market. He is Chairman of the Council of the University of Surrey, a Director of Qatar Insurance Services and Chairman of the Mitsui-Sumitomo Insurance London Companies.

Philip Wallace appointed 1 June 2009 for a three-year term.

Philip Wallace was a chartered accountant at KPMG from 1971 to 2005 finishing as a Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Audit Committee. His main specialism was Corporate Recovery where he was the senior partner responsible for complex restructurings and insolvency. Since his retirement Mr Wallace has pursued a number of non-executive roles including the Chairmanship of the Insolvency Services Steering Board which he took up in 2007. 

David Weymouth appointed 1 July 2011 for a three-year term.

David Weymouth is Group Director of Operations and Risk in Royal and Sun Alliance and a member of the Group Executive Committee at the RSA. He has had a broad-ranging career across a variety of disciplines including operations, change, technology, supply chain and risk management. This includes global Chief Information Officer for Barclays Bank from 2000 to 2005. He has a strong delivery track record of major IT-enabled change programmes.

Executive Directors

Mark Neale (Chief Executive) appointed 4 May 2010

Formerly Director General at HMT responsible for Budget, Tax and Welfare, Mark has spent the past four years leading on the development of tax policy and delivery of the annual Budget and Pre-Budget Report, managing fiscal risk and welfare policy, including reducing child poverty. Previously he was Director General for Security at the Home Office with responsibility for Counter-terrorism and Organised Crime. This included the creation of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and development of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. Mark has also been responsible for welfare reform as Director for Children and Housing at the Department for Work and Pensions, and was Finance Director of the Employment Service.

Alex Kuczynski (Director of Corporate Affairs) appointed 1 February 2010

Alex Kuczynski played a crucial role in shaping the Scheme's response to the failures of five banks in 2008. Prior to FSCS his career includes time as the Head of Legal for the Investors Compensation Scheme (ICS) and as a solicitor for City law firms. Mr. Kuczynski's new role brings together the Scheme's work in areas including legal support and communications while also bolstering its policy team.

Kate Bartlett (Director of Operations) appointed 1 February 2010

Kate Bartlett began her career working on IT projects in the financial services industry at Andersen Consulting and subsequently Cazenove. Her career includes 15 years working for UBS in senior roles in service delivery, programme management, IT, change management, contract negotiation and outsourcing.

Rommel Pereira (Director of Central Services) appointed 7 September 2010

Rommel Pereira most recently worked for the Metropolitan Housing Partnership where he was Group Chief Operating Officer. Before that, he worked as an accountant for Ernst and Young, Head of Financial Systems at Reuters, Group IT and Finance Manager at HSBC Midland and in a number of roles at JP Morgan Chase, including Chief Financial Officer, Business Manager, Head of Business Unit and Global Chief Operating Officer.