Industry moves round-up: Lowell, CICM and FLA announce appointments

The latest round-ups which include the debt purchase, trade credit and car finance professions can be found below:

Lowell brings two directors onto UK leadership team
Kathryn Morgan has joined Lowell, the credit management and debt purchase company, as UK customer operations director, while Nick Ollard has become UK client director. Both join the UK executive committee and report to UK managing director John Pears.

Morgan was most recently with NatWest Group where she was head of personal banking risk oversight. Before that, she spent 15 years in senior roles with Virgin Money/CYBG, including head of customer banking enablement, where she was responsible for ensuring customer-focused strategy and operations delivery.

Ollard, who joined Lowell in 2018 from TDX, has assumed full responsibility for Lowell’s UK client-related operations in the newly created role of UK client director. This move sees him promoted to the exec committee and brings together his previous role of commercial director with that of director of client experience. He and his team will be responsible for the entire end-to-end client experience: from sales and transaction management through to ongoing client care and oversight.

Chartsbridge’s Andy Thomas elected chair of vehicle recovery group

Andy Thomas, operations director at Chartsbridge, the dedicated provider of collections and recoveries services for motor finance firms, has been elected agent chair of the FLA’s new Vehicle Recovery and Collection Group (VRAC). Daniel Layzell of Honda Financial Services has been appointed as lender chair.

The appointment follows an election process across the FLA (Finance & Leasing Association) membership, with applications having been received from a number of applicants. The term of appointment is two years, at the end of which both individuals may offer themselves for re-election by the group.

The VRAC group has been formed to provide a forum for members involved in the recovery and collection of vehicles in the motor and asset finance sectors. The group will be attended by the wider FLA membership to include lenders, solicitors and other associate members.

CICM announces new chair

Debbie Nolan, the UK chief executive of global financial solutions company Arvato, is the new chair of the CICM executive board of trustees. She succeeds Pete Whitmore and is joined in her new position by Phil Rice as vice chair and Glen Bullivant as treasurer.

Nolan has been a graduate member of the CICM (Chartered Institute of Credit Management) for more than 25 years, having spent almost all of her working life in the credit industry.

She said: “I’d like to think I’ve been able to utilise the experience I have gained in my ‘day job’ to help support and shape the CICM over the last two years and will continue to do so. We need a collaborative, forward thinking executive board more than ever to tackle the challenges of a post-pandemic period that is likely to have a lasting impact on our industry.”

Sue Chapple, chief executive of the CICM, said: “There is much to be accomplished over the next two years and Debbie’s knowledge, insight and experience will be critical as we take the CICM and its members on the next stage of our journey in promoting best-practice credit management.”