Skipton Building Society has selected Ian Cornelius (pictured), most recently the lender's commercial and strategy director, as interim chief executive following the departure of David Cutter in April.
Cornelius will take on the role from 26 April, with Cutter due to step down on 25 April.
It was announced in January this year that David Cutter would step down as group chief executive at the mutual’s AGM in April.
Cutter had been the mutual’s group chief executive for 13 years, and spent 30 years at the business overall.
Cornelius was appointed to the board in 2012, and in his role as commercial and strategy director he oversees implementation of the mutual’s proposition and development of products and services.
Prior to working at Skipton BS, he was commercial director at HML for nearly two years and before that director of banking at Virgin Money for just over a year. He has also held roles at Bradford and Bingley and Capital One Bank.
Skipton Building Society said that it was still in the process of “recruiting a high calibre permanent successor”, who had the “skills and capability to lead a complex and diversified business”.
The mutual reported a 20 per cent annual rise in its gross mortgage lending, which came to £5.4bn in 2021. Its mortgage balance also grew by 6.8 per cent in 2021, which is slightly down from 8.6 per cent growth the year before.
Skipton Building Society’s results also showed growth in first-time buyers and buy-to-let mortgage segments.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
