Snakes and Ladders: Who is moving jobs in the City this week?
Snakes and Ladders provides a roundup of the most important hires and job moves across the City, every Wednesday afternoon. Email [email protected] to be featured.
City firms are continuing to adapt to the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic as they vie to be in prime position to recover from the economic fallout of the crisis.
This week, Saga has hired a new boss for its travel division as it grapples with the restrictions placed on its cruise and tours business, RBC Capital Markets has strengthened its London team with two new appointments and UHY Hacker Young has recognised the hard work of two “rising stars” with promotions.
Saga appoints new travel boss to lead Covid-19 response
Saga has promoted chief strategy officer Nick Stace to chief executive of its travel business at a crucial time for the London-listed firm.
Stace will oversee Saga’s cruise and tours business, which has been severely impacted by restrictions on travel during the coronavirus crisis.
The key focus will be ensuring a safe return to service as soon as restrictions are lifted. In his previous role Stace was leading the firm’s coronavirus response in partnership with the government and other authorities.
Before joining Saga, Stace held chief executive roles at The Princes Trust, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and Choice, Australia’s largest consumer campaigner and publisher.
Stace said: “My number one priority in my new role is ensuring that our travel businesses are ready to provide exceptional experiences to our customers when the current restrictions are lifted.”
Bank of Scotland MD hired as Axa retail insurance boss
Tara Foley will join Axa as chief executive of UK retail insurance on 2 November following a 12-year stint at Lloyd’s Banking Group.
She will also be a member of the UK and Ireland management committee and will report to CEO Claudio Gienal.
Foley held a range of positions at Lloyd’s, and was most recently the managing director of the Bank of Scotland. She previously worked at Deutsche Bank and Accenture.
She will replace Laurent Matras who is moving to AXA Asia to take on the role of chief financial officer of AXA Tianping in China from 1 January 2021.
Gienal said: “Tara’s depth of experience in transformational growth and operational efficiency, as well as her deep understanding of retail customer needs, will be incredibly valuable to AXA. We look forward to working with Tara in continuing to develop and execute our ambitious retail strategy.”
RBC Capital Markets makes two London hires
RBC Capital Markets has strengthened its London team with two new senior hires.
Bianca Gould has been appointed as co-head of electronic EU sales and trading and will focus on broadening the unit’s client base.
She is joining RBC after 16 years with finance broker Redburn, where she was made the firm’s youngest ever partner in 2009.
Barbara Cremer will join RBC’s senior relationship management team as a director, covering large UK and European banks.
Cremer was most recently executive director of treasury and global markets at Nomura and is also a board member and treasurer of the City Women Network. She previously worked for Merrill Lynch in London, after starting her career in New York.
British Business Investments appoints managing director
Adam Kelly has been appointed to managing director of British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, as it gears up to support the UK’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Kelly was previously director of the subsidiary’s structured capital solutions portfolio, where he led investments in challenger banks.
Before joining the bank he held positions at Dresdner Kleinwort and JP Morgan Cazenove.
British Business Investments chief executive Judith Hartley said: “I am delighted that he has agreed to take on the role of managing director of British Business Investments, and look forward to working with him as we support the UK’s economic recovery.”
UHY Hacker Young promotes “rising stars”
Accountancy group UHY Hacker Young has promoted two of its London “rising stars” to partner.
James Astley, who joined the team in 2011, currently audits and advises listed and private companies, and has acted for firms listing on AIM and the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
Jessica Moorghan, who has worked for UHY Hacker Young for seven years, specialises in audit and financial reporting, and shares responsibility for auditing a number of the firm’s largest clients.
Subarna Banerjee, managing partner of UHY Hacker Young in London, said: “James and Jessica have both accelerated through the ranks at the firm very quickly. We are big believers in supporting the growth and progression of team members who excel.”