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Meet the Executive Committee

Chris Rhodes

Chris Rhodes

Chief Executive Officer

Chris joined Virgin Money as Chief Executive Officer in October 2024.

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.

Adrian Haines

Adrian Haines

Chief Risk Officer

Adrian Haines was appointed Virgin Money’s Chief Risk Officer (CRO) in January 2025.

Adrian was previously the bank’s Chief Compliance Officer, a role he held for several years. Prior to joining Virgin Money, Adrian had an extensive career in risk management, holding a variety of risk leadership roles in banking and consultancy, including CRO and Risk Director roles in Retail and Business Banking at RBS. 

Katherine Lovell

Katherine Lovell

Head of Part VII Transition Programme

Katherine joined Virgin Money in 2011 working in the bank’s credit card business. She then spent several years within the secured lending team working in a number of roles, including Head of Existing Mortgage Customers and Interim Head of Mortgages, before being appointed as Head of Unsecured Lending in November 2023. In April 2025, Katherine was appointed to the Head of Part VII Transition Programme role to lead the work on this following the acquisition of Virgin Money by Nationwide Building Society.

Katherine has over 22 years of financial services experience. Before joining Virgin Money, she spent 10 years at MBNA / Bank of America undertaking numerous roles across its Unsecured Lending business, spanning Finance, Business Operations, Contact Centres, Marketing and Partnerships.

Lynn McManus

Lynn McManus

Group Chief People Officer

Lynn is Group Chief People Officer, leading HR across Nationwide and Virgin Money.

Lynn joined Nationwide in January 2023 as Chief People Officer and has more than 20 years’ experience within financial services.

Previously, Lynn was a Non-Executive Director at Leeds Building Society and was the People Director at CYBG. She has worked within finance, risk, HR and communications. Lynn is also a chartered management accountant.

Simon Norman

Simon Norman

Head of Business Bank

Simon was appointed Head of Business Banking in October 2023.

Simon has over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector. He joined Virgin Money in 2008 as Head of Finance, Planning and Analytics, when the business was privately owned and helped secure its banking licence. He also played a leading role in raising funding and executing acquisitions ahead of the bank’s 2014 IPO.

He has since worked across both the commercial and finance functions in a number of roles including Head of Business Partnering, Income and Costs, interim Head of Digital Banking and Head of Unsecured Lending.

Simon started his career at NatWest working in finance then in their Investment Bank.

James Peirson

James Peirson

Group General Counsel

James joined Nationwide in December 2024 as Group General Counsel to lead the Legal and Secretariat functions of both Nationwide and Virgin Money UK.

This function delivers expert advice and guidance on legal and regulatory issues, as well as a comprehensive secretariat service.

James has been General Counsel at Virgin Money UK since November 2014, having joined the Group's former Parent Company, National Australia Bank in 2005. Prior to that he started his career in private practice at Hogan Lovells.

Raymond Pettitt

Raymond Pettitt

Director of Customer Services and Operations

Raymond joined Virgin Money in January 2025 as Director of Customer Services and Operations, responsible for all customer services and customer operations activities across Virgin Money.

Raymond has worked in banking, financial services and telecoms for more than 30 years, with a focus on operations, transforming customer experience and digital transformation. Before joining Virgin Money he was CEO of iPSL (Intelligent Processing Solutions Limited), a digital cheque processing company, and previously held executive roles in Barclays retail bank where he was responsible for branches, contact centres and operational support.

Graeme Sands

Graeme Sands

Director of Retail

Graeme joined Clydesdale Bank in June 2006, initially in a risk role. Since then, he’s held various positions in Business and Personal Banking. Before stepping up to his current role as Director of Retail, Graeme led Virgin Money’s Personal Banking business unit.

Graeme has been a Chartered Accountant for nearly 30 years, working in corporate finance at PwC before taking up roles in VC-backed financial services software companies, first as a Chief Financial Officer and then as a General Manager.

Graeme was previously Chair of the UK Finance Commercial Products Board and is a member of the KAL ATM Software advisory board.

Suresh Viswanathan

Suresh Viswanathan

Group Chief Operating Officer

Suresh is Group Chief Operating Officer, leading all technology across Nationwide and Virgin Money.

Suresh has been the Chief Operating Officer at Nationwide Building Society since October 2022. He has over 30 years of experience in technology and financial services, specialising in setting up complex global technology operations and integrations.

Suresh began his career at Citi Group, where he set up their branch-banking platform and led acquisition and integrations across Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. He joined Barclays in 2008 as Chief Information Officer for Barclays Corporate Bank and then went on to lead Operations and Technology for Barclays UK, where he helped set up their ring-fenced bank. Between 2019 to 2022, Suresh was the Chief Operating Officer at TSB, overseeing digital transformation, and broader technology and corporate functions.

Suresh was appointed as an Associate Non-Executive Director for NHS England in April 2024.

Gergely Zaborszky

Gergely Zaborszky

Chief Financial Officer

Gergely became Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on 4 March 2025 having been employed by Virgin Money since 2019 as Head of Group Financial Planning & Analysis and Capital Management, a role spanning the responsibility for Corporate Planning, Executive Reporting, Capital Management and Stress Testing.

Before this he had a successful career with the General Electric (GE) group working both in financial and non-financial services companies and most latterly operating in the role of CFO for various GE Group companies both in the UK and globally.

His broad skillset, deep understanding of Virgin Money strategy and strong and collaborative leadership style mean he is ideally placed to oversee the development of the strategic direction of the long-term integration of Virgin Money with Nationwide Building Society in a prudent manner against a challenging backdrop of the retail banking market.

Gergely’s previous positions include CFO of Strategic Ventures and Restructuring Group at GE Capital International in the UK and Global CFO & Operations Leader for GE Working Capital Solutions in the Netherlands. He held the position of CFO for GE Corporate Finance Bank and Financial Controller for both GE Corporate Financial Services and GE Corporate Finance Bank. During his time with GE Capital International, he was a Non-Executive Director for GE Capital’s Commercial Finance Joint Venture in South Korea.

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