Joe Garner will leave BT Openreach to become Nationwide's CEO
Nationwide has hired former HSBC UK boss Joe Garner as its new chief executive.
Garner, who left HSBC in 2012 after serving as deputy CEO and head of HSBC UK, will take over from Nationwide's retiring chief executive Graham Beale in spring 2016.
Garner will join from BT Openreach, where he has been chief executive for nearly two years.
Garner said: "I've greatly enjoyed my time at Openreach and deciding to leave has been an extremely hard decision, but Nationwide is a firm I long-admired during my time in financial services."
Garner's appointment is an unusual move for Nationwide, which promoted from within with its last three chief executives.
The society's top two posts are now filled with ex-bankers, as Nationwide's chairman David Roberts is a former Barclays banker and was deputy chairman of Lloyds Banking Group.
Roberts added: "Joe is an exceptional leader and is exactly the right person to lead the society through the next chapter of its journey."
