Virgin Money appoints executive team

Mark Parker has been appointed as chief operating officer of the enlarged bank, the only former Northern Rock executive among the top team following the takeover.

The team also includes Finlay Williamson as finance director, Pete Ball as product and commercial director, and Marian Watson as chief risk officer.

Stephen Pearson has been appointed as general counsel, Dave Dyer as corporate development director, Paul Lloyds as marketing director, Jim MacDonald as customer and distribution director, and Matt Elliott as people director.

David Clementi will stay as non-executive chairman and Jayne-Anne Gadhia will remain as chief executive of the Virgin Money executive team.

Gadhia, said: “Together, with the newly combined workforce, we have a significant opportunity to build a new kind of bank, one that people will want to be a part of.”

Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said: "The Virgin Group has always gone into markets where there's been an opportunity to make things better for customers.

“We've been doing it for 40 years with some real milestone moments along the way, from our first steps in the record industry to launching Virgin Atlantic. Now we want to do the same for banking.

“It's not something we take lightly. There's a lot of hard work ahead. But we have the people, the products and the plans in place.”