In his role as chief risk officer for Atom Bank, he will ensure that the firm “maintains and further enhances its excellent risk management culture”, which the company said has been an “integral part” of its growth since it launched.

Jones joins as chief risk officer for Atom Bank from The Co-operative Bank where he worked for over 26 years, most recently as chief risk officer.

Sparks has been with the firm as a chief risk officer for around nine years, and before that, he worked at Virgin Money for around three years as the director of financial risk and analytics. Prior to that, he was at the Royal Bank of Scotland for around a decade.

At the latter, he held several senior roles, including head of data and analytics and head of finance and risk, infrastructure and analytics.

Mark Mullen, CEO at Atom Bank, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Gareth to Atom at a crucial stage of growth for the business. I’d also like to take this time to wish Chris a happy retirement, and thank him for all his hard work in making Atom what it is today.

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“With extensive experience in the sector and a genuine commitment to both customers and employees, Gareth comes with excellent credentials and a proven track record in risk management, risk culture and leadership. His contributions will be vital to Atom, as we continue to grow our proposition and build sustainable profitability.”

Jones added: “The opportunity to join an ambitious and progressive digital business like Atom Bank was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“I’m excited to be working at a company with such strong customer advocacy, supported by an impressive risk management culture and capability. I look forward to getting started and building on Atom’s already significant achievements.”

Atom Bank recently reported that its commercial mortgage completions had exceeded £1bn.