Building society chief takes on new role at Vanquis

CREDIT lender Provident Financial has appointed Iain Cornish as an independent non-executive director at its Vanquis Bank operation.

Mr Cornish, who is leaving his role as chief executive of the Yorkshire Building Society at the end of the year, will take up the role at Vanquis on January 1 next year.

Mr Cornish has held a number of senior management positions since joining the Yorkshire in 1992 and was appointed chief executive in July 2003.

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He announced his resignation as chief executive of the society in February.

He is also an independent non-executive director of St James’s Place and served as a member of the FSA Practitioner Panel from 2007 to 2011, becoming chairman in 2009.

Peter Crook, chief executive of Bradford-based Provident Financial and chairman of Vanquis Bank said: “Following the evolution of Vanquis into a deposit taking bank, I am delighted to welcome Iain Cornish to the Vanquis Board as an independent non-executive director.

“Iain brings a wealth of experience in retail financial services.”

The appointment of Mr Cornish is subject to FSA approval.

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The news came as Provident Financial hosted an Investor Day at its subsidiary Vanquis Bank’s contact centre in Chatham.

Provident Financial said it is on course to report “excellent” annual results, thanks to its policy of cherry-picking lower-risk customers amid the toughest consumer climate for years.

The group lends sums of £400 to £500 to households who cannot borrow from high street banks, and turns away four in five potential customers.

Last month Provident’s Vanquis Bank credit card arm reported strong growth.

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Customer numbers rose to 31.5 per cent to 659,000 as the lender ploughed investment into a “customer acquisition programme”. Combined with increasing credit lines to customers, average receivables grew 35 per cent in the nine months to the end of September.

Provident said Vanquis’s risk-adjusted margin is about 35 per cent, beating its 30 per cent target.

The company added Vanquis has not sacrificed quality for growth, maintaining “consistently tight underwriting”. As a result, its bad debt levels are at an all-time low for the business. Vanquis started taking deposits in July.