Market Harborough Building Society (MHBS) has appointed Lesley Vernon to the newly created role of chief engagement officer.
Vernon joins from The Nottingham, where she worked for over 11 years in various roles including head of customer.
In the role, Vernon will bring together society members, community partners and colleagues to engage them in the Thrive agenda, which is focused on growing its savings and mortgage membership and investing in community projects.
The Thrive agenda was launched in January this year and has invested £2m initiative to buy six homes to offer as affordable homes.
It had also donated over £100,000 to support local food banks.
MHBS: ‘Great progress with Thrive Agenda’
Iain Kirkpatrick, Chief Executive at MHBS, said, “I’m personally delighted to welcome Lesley to MHBS in this very purposefully created role. We’ve made great progress with our Thrive Agenda this year, investing in some very worthwhile local causes.
“I’m genuinely excited by what we can achieve by really connecting our members, community partners and colleagues for the benefit of each other, after all it goes right back to the reason building societies were first introduced.”
Vernon added: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Society in this new role and at such an exciting time. It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring together everyone in the MHBS family – our members, community partners and colleagues – in a truly unique way, and to unite behind the common goal of improving the lives of everyone in our communities.”
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.
