Former COO becomes head of credit management and mortgages
Suffolk Building Society has promoted Rebecca Newman (pictured) to chief operating officer from her previous position as chief of staff.
Newman’s new role combines her previous responsibilities with an additional operational remit, including change management and IT and information security. She will also take on the responsibility for outsourcing and operational resilience, which will sit within the newly defined CEO’s office team.
Explaining her plans, Newman said that her role is to ensure there are mechanisms in place to support members, brokers and to successfully grow the business.
“We need the right systems, people, and premises to continue to make the Society a success, and a key part of that will be through our digital transformation journey, which will streamline the broker experience,” Newman stated.
Meanwhile, the former COO, Ian Brighton, has become head of credit management and mortgages.
Having already spent over thirty years working within the building society sector, Brighton will be stepping away from the board and executive team to a more hands-on role utilising his experience and in-depth knowledge.
He will be responsible for the entire mortgage lifecycle, from DIP to redemption, and the lending function will continue to report to him.
Speaking on some of his other key responsibilities, Brighton said that developing the Society’s lending strategy to further enhance its specialist offering will be an important priority.
“We’re always keen to focus on where we’re strongest – supporting brokers looking after niche borrowers, via our manual underwriting ethos. While we’ll always retain our individual approach to applications, we’re also keen to enhance the Society’s service proposition, so I’m pleased to be leading the launch of a new mortgage origination platform later in the year,” he added.
Commenting on the appointments, chief executive Richard Norrington welcomed the appointment of Newman and Brighton’s transition into his new role.
“These changes further strengthen the Society’s operational and management structure as we ready ourselves for the years ahead,” he stressed.
Norrington added that both roles are central to the Suffolk’s ESG strategy, which includes developing its green finance agenda and climate change reporting, with the COO heading up the program as executive sponsor.
