Our Team - Harpenden Building Society

We are run day-to-day by a Leadership Team and overseen by an elected Board of Directors.

The Board are responsible for directing and supervising the Society’s affairs. Ensuring that it meets its statutory and regulatory obligations and protecting the interests of our members. It also has a duty to ensure that the Society maintains proper accounting records and effective business control systems.

The Board delegates certain powers and responsibilities to Board sub-committees, chaired by Non-Executive Directors and attended by a blend of Non-Executive Directors, Executives and Leadership Team.

The Board

Chairman
Stephen Richardson

Stephen joined the Society as a non-executive director in January
2014 and was appointed Chair in June 2016. He is Chair of the
Society’s Nominations Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Stephen brings a wealth of strategic leadership to the organisation
and has over 35 years of management and leadership experience in financial services at Barclays, Flemings and The Bank of New York, where he was Chief Operating Officer for Europe.

He was Global Head of Wealth Management at the World Gold
Council (trade body for global gold mining companies) covering
China, India, Europe and the USA until mid-2013. Stephen now has a
range of non-executive and advisory/consulting roles.

Non Executive Director
Lesley Beecher

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Lesley joined the Society as a non-executive director in July 2021 and is a member of the Audit Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee.

Lesley has worked in financial services for the last 25 years. She is a technology specialist and was a retail banking CIO in her previous role. In parallel, for the last 7 years Lesley was a non-executive director for a company offering services to the credit union sector.

Lesley has 4 grown up children and enjoys walking; having planned and completed several long distance trails.

Vice Chair
Nigel Boothroyd

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Nigel joined the Society as a non-executive director in March 2019
and was appointed Vice Chair in May 2020. He has been the Senior
Independent Director since January 2021 and is Chair of the Society’s Remuneration Committee. He is also a member of the Board Risk & Compliance Committee and the Nominations Committee.

He has significant executive-level experience within financial services, having spent some 38 years at HSBC Group. He has carried out a number of senior roles, with experience of corporate and commercial banking; credit risk; operational risk; retail banking and wealth management.

Nigel has served on a number of Executive and Risk Committees within the UK, Europe and North America. He was also the National Head of Corporate Banking with HSBC Canada between 2012 and 2015.

Nigel is an experienced non-executive director and in addition to his role at the Society, is Chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committees at British Arab Commercial Bank plc.

Non Executive Director
Mark Willis

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Mark joined the Society as a non-executive director in April 2019 and
is currently chair of the Board Risk & Compliance Committee and
member of the Audit Committee.

Mark has spent his career in financial services, most recently as Chief Risk Officer at National Counties Building Society which he joined in 2013. Previously, he served in a number of both operational and oversight roles in financial risk management at Nationwide Building Society (including Head of Market Risk) and with Nationwide Pension Fund as trustee.

Mark is currently a Reader in the Church of England and trustee of the National Counties Pension Fund.

He graduated in Philosophy Politics and Economics from Keble College, Oxford and is qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Corporate Treasurer. He also holds the PMI Award in Pension Trusteeship.

Non Executive Director
David Green

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David joined the Society as a non-executive director in October 2020 and chairs the Society’s Audit Committee. He is also a member of the Board Risk & Compliance Committee.

He is a chartered accountant with around 40 years’ experience in retail
financial services. He joins us having recently retired as CEO of a leading private bank. He also served as an independent non-executive director for 7 years at a challenger bank.

Chief Executive Officer
Richard Doe

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Richard joined the Society in April 2020 initially as a non-executive director. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2021 following Sarah Howe’s resignation.

Richard has over 35 years’ experience in retail banking, covering mortgages, SME lending and retail savings. He has a marketing and business strategy background and was previously CEO of ING Direct in the UK and Managing Director of Paragon Bank plc.

He is a Chartered Banker and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing where he is also a member of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee.

Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer
Richard Doe

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Richard joined the Society in April 2020 initially as a non-executive director. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2021 following Sarah Howe’s resignation.

Richard has over 35 years’ experience in retail banking, covering mortgages, SME lending and retail savings. He has a marketing and business strategy background and was previously CEO of ING Direct in the UK and Managing Director of Paragon Bank plc.

He is a Chartered Banker and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing where he is also a member of the Appointments and Remuneration Committee.

Finance Director
Ashif Kassam

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Ash joined the Society as Interim Finance Director in November 2022, replacing George McGrady following his departure in January 2023.

Ash is a Chartered Accountant and an MBA with over 25 years’ experience in financial services. His background is Treasury and Finance mainly in Investment and Retail Banking, with a wealth of experience gained at a number of organisations including Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Bank, RBS and, most recently, as Finance Director at Credit Suisse supporting their UK Wealth Management business.

Ash is a member of the Leadership Team and Chair of the Asset & Liability Committee.

Head of People
Tracy Campbell

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Tracy has solid building society sector experience having spent 14 years at the Cambridge Building Society and latterly 13 years at the Saffron Building Society. Tracy’s sector experience spans front line, back office, mortgages, arrears, and of course human resources (or people resources as we like to refer to it these days).

Tracy is particularly passionate about culture and well-being and has successfully introduced many initiatives in this area over the years. Tracy’s advocates a holistic and pragmatic approach to people management which is critical in today’s modern organisations. Having experienced mental ill health in the past, Tracy is an advocate for supporting colleagues through difficult times and raising awareness of mental health wellness.

Tracy joined the Society in June 2021 and is a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development as well as CeMap qualified.

Commercial Director
Mike Cutler

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Mike joined the Society in November 2021 as Commercial Director and as a member of the Leadership Team.

Mike has over 30 years experience in retail banking and mortgage lending. He has held various roles covering sales, underwriting, product strategy, marketing and intermediary distribution. Mike has spent his career working in mutuals, specialist lenders and mainstream banks, which has included launching new lenders to the UK intermediary market with ING Direct and Tesco Bank.

Mike is the owner of the customer journey and leads the sales, proposition and marketing teams for the Society.

Director of Operations
Gemma Fient

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Gemma joined the society in March 2022 and is a member of the leadership team.

Gemma is an experienced Financial Services Operations Specialist, with a background spent managing Operational, Risk and Compliance functions for a variety of banks, building societies and mortgage lenders.

Gemma has been in the industry since 2003, during which she has held several senior positions, with experience of the end-to-end mortgage journey.

Gemma is responsible for the management and oversight of all our Operational functions within Mortgages and Savings (including the branch network).

Director of IT & Transformation
Gary Richardson

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Gary joined the Society’s Senior Leadership Team in June 2021 as the Director of IT & Transformation. Gary has extensive experience in financial services having worked in the building society movement for all his 36-year career, in senior roles heading up IT and Operational Resilience.

Gary is a strong advocate of mutuality and the benefits this provides to our members. Gary plays a key role in ensuring IT services deliver the best possible service for business areas and supplying Transformation programs that provide safe and resilient future technology change for Harpenden Building Society.

He has an MSC in Leadership and Management.

Society Secretary
Gavin Mullen

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Gavin joined the Society’s Leadership Team in September 2021 as the Society Secretary. He is a solicitor and company secretary with over 20 years' experience working within financial services having previously worked at The Bank of New York Mellon and M&G Investments. He spent the first part of his career working at City law firms, Mayer Brown and Fieldfisher.

Gavin has extensive experience of advising boards and executive management on corporate governance matters, and implementing best practice and effective governance structures both in the UK and across the EMEA region.

In addition to his legal qualification, Gavin has a BA Hons in French.