Executive Committee

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.

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.

Syreeta joined the business in November 2021 as Group Chief People and Communications Officer. In addition to people and communications, Syreeta is also responsible for Virgin Money’s Purpose, community engagement, and the Virgin Money Foundation.

Syreeta has over 20 years of experience working in Human Resources roles. She spent 11 years at Citi, holding several senior HR roles, the most recent of which was Managing Director, Head of HR for Global Functions, Operations and Technology, leading HR strategy for 20,000 employees across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to her time at Citi, Syreeta worked at BT Group for 11 years in number of senior roles.

Syreeta holds an Executive Masters in HR leadership and completed an HR Executive Programme at University of Michigan. She was included in The Powerlist between 2023 and 2025, which recognises the UK’s most influential black people, being in the top 10 in 2024. She was also named as an Involve Empower role model in 2022 and won ‘Leader in Financial Services’ at the 2018 Black British Business Awards. Syreeta is an advisory Board member for the Black Talent charter initiative in the UK led by Harry Matovu KC, and Vice Chair of the Change the Race Ratio Campaign chaired by Sir Trevor Phillips.

Justin is Group Treasurer for Virgin Money having joined the bank in July 2020. Reporting to the CEO, his remit covers 1st line balance sheet management and market risk execution.

Justin has over 30 years’ experience in financial markets having undertaken senior Treasury roles at Oxfam GB, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Nationwide. Prior to that he worked in debt capital markets at Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Standard & Poor’s. Justin is a graduate of Oxford University.

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 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.

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 joined the Group’s former parent company, National Australia Bank, in May 2005 and was appointed as General Counsel in November 2014. In December 2024, he was appointed as Nationwide Group General Counsel and sits on both the Nationwide and Virgin Money Executive Committees.

James’s previous roles include leading NAB’s London branch legal team and roles supporting NAB and Clydesdale Bank Treasury activities as part of NAB’s Capital & Funding legal team in Melbourne and London. Before joining NAB, James worked in private legal practice at Hogan Lovells in London, Paris and Frankfurt.

James sponsors the Bank’s disability inclusion network.

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 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.

Sarah joined Virgin Money in January 2023 as Chief Operating Officer.

Sarah joined the business from Thomson Reuters, where she was Chief Information Officer. Prior to Thomson Reuters, she held roles as Chief Executive Officer of NHS Digital and Chief Information Officer at the Home Office. Sarah holds a number of non-executive positions which further broadens the perspective she brings to Virgin Money. In her earlier career Sarah spent 23 years in Financial Services, during which she held CIO roles at Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers. Sarah was voted No 1 in the UK Tech50 for 2021, Computer Weekly’s annual ranking of the Top 50 Most Influential Leaders in the UK Tech Industry.