The appointment is expected to drive the growth of the mortgage and protection advice firm, which has made 25 acquisitions since its launch and now has over 1,000 colleagues across the mainstream and specialist mortgage sectors.
Orji has 16 years of experience across financial services consulting at Alvarez & Marsal, where she was chief operating officer of a principal partner practice of St. James’s Place Wealth Management. Before this, she worked in management consulting at Deloitte and Accenture.
In her role at Pivotal, she will oversee its operational strategy and support its growth.
Crossfield has over 15 years of experience in delivering client digital platforms. He joins from Evelyn Partners and has worked in consulting roles at Accenture and Capgemini Consulting, where he led financial services technology transformations.
In his role at Pivotal, he will lead its artificial intelligence (AI), technology and data strategy.
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Their appointments follow the retirement of Jane Cross and Allan Dornan. Cross is a chartered accountant with more than 25 years in financial services and was one of the founding leaders of Pivotal. Dornan, whose career in technology spans more than 35 years, developed the group’s technology foundations.
Mayank Prakash CBE, group chief executive of Pivotal, said: “Nneka brings a rare combination of consulting rigour and real operating experience in UK financial services advice businesses. Charlie brings the next-generation AI product and engineering mindset to reimagine the client experience. This is exactly what we need to scale our group organically and through acquisitions.
“I also want to pay tribute to Jane and Allan, who have been instrumental in scaling Pivotal. On behalf of everyone at Pivotal, I thank them both for their leadership and wish them long, happy and very well-earned retirements.”
Orji (pictured, left) added: “Pivotal has built something genuinely differentiated in UK financial advice – an entrepreneurial, specialist-led group with real scale, strong client focus and a clear technology advantage. I am delighted to be joining the team, and I look forward to working with our entrepreneurial partners and colleagues.”
Crossfield (pictured, right) said: “Pivotal is one of the most exciting technology-driven growth stories in UK financial services. The combination of a network of specialist adviser teams and AI client journeys is an opportunity to reshape the experience of everyone who needs mortgage, protection or general insurance. I look forward to partnering with colleagues across Pivotal to achieve more together.”
