Alpha International : Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia Joins Alpha Group Board

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia Joins Alpha Group Board

20.03.2024

Alpha is pleased to announce the appointment of Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia as Chair Designate. Clive Kahn has been Chair of the Company since 2016, and therefore will not be seeking re-election at the Company's 2025 AGM. In order to ensure good corporate governance and a smooth handover of Chair responsibilities, Jayne-Anne will remain Chair Designate until the conclusion of Clive's term as Chair.

Jayne-Anne's appointment as Chair Designate will be effective on the conclusion of the Company's AGM on 01 May 2024, subject to the completion of normal regulatory due diligence by the Company's Nominated Adviser.

About Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia:

Jayne-Anne brings a wealth of financial leadership experience to the Board. A chartered accountant, she spent six years at Norwich Union (now Aviva) before becoming one of the founders of Virgin Direct in 1995. Three years later, she set up the Virgin One account, which was acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2001. She subsequently spent five years at RBS before returning to Virgin as CEO to launch Virgin Money, where she served for more than 10 years, from 2008 to 2018. During this time, she led the company's acquisition and successful integration of Northern Rock, subsequently listing Virgin Money in 2014.

Following the sale of Virgin Money, Jayne-Anne joined Salesforce from 2019-2021. She left Salesforce to focus on her own fintech, Snoop, which was sold to Vanquis Bank in July 2023.

Jayne-Anne is currently Lead Non-Executive Director at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), Chair of Moneyfarm, Senior Independent Director at the Tate, and a Senior Advisor at Vanquis Bank.

From 2016 to 2021 she was also the UK Government's Women in Finance Champion and continues to support and promote the Women in Finance Charter as an adviser. In 2018 she was named Leader of the Year at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards. She sits on the Mayor of London's Business Advisory Board and the Financial Inclusion Policy Forum.

Jayne-Anne was awarded a CBE in the 2014 New Year's Honours list, made a Dame in the 2019 Honours list, and awarded a CVO in the 2022 Birthday Honours List.

Lisa Gordon to step down from the Board:

Lisa Gordon, Non-Executive Director of the Company, will step down from the Board on 1 May 2024 by not seeking re-election at the Company's AGM. Lisa has been with the Board since the company's IPO in April 2017 and has been Chair of the Remuneration Committee since that date. A process to recruit an additional Non-Executive Director will be undertaken in the coming months.

Morgan Tillbrook, CEO of Alpha Group, said:

"On behalf of the Board and everyone in the company, I would like to thank Lisa for everything she has brought to Alpha over the past seven years. Her counsel has been invaluable as we grew from a small business on AIM to a company that is about to join the Main Market, and I am very grateful to have been able to benefit from her experience as we began life as a listed business.

It is a privilege to bring someone of Jayne-Anne's calibre to our Board. Her extensive track record of leading major financial institutions, as well as establishing and successfully growing fintech companies, provides a rare blend of experience which aligns perfectly with our desire to scale and mature, whilst retaining our entrepreneurial high-performance culture."

Commenting on her appointment, Jayne-Anne Gadhia said:

"I am delighted to be joining Alpha as it embarks on this exciting next chapter in its growth story. Alpha is a fantastic company with an exciting vision, and I am looking forward to being able to contribute to its success."