• Three new hires include Chief Finance Officer, Chief Risk Officer, and Chief Customer Officer
• New hires bring in diversity of experience spanning finance, fintech and consumer marketing and branding
• Will support and strengthen Zopa’s vision of becoming the best place for customers’ money

Zopa, the pioneering financial services company, today announces the appointment of three new hires to its Executive team.

The new hires come at a significant time in Zopa’s growth as it moves towards launching its next generation bank. The new hires reflect Zopa’s ambition to be the best place for its customers’ money.

Since founding the peer-to-peer industry in 2005, Zopa has grown into a profitable company, lending out almost £3bn to its UK customers by delivering products that bring consumers better value and increased simplicity.

Zopa’s three new executive team hires

Zopa has announced the appointment of Phillip Dransfield as Chief Risk Officer, Steve Hulme as Chief Finance Officer and Clare Gambardella as Chief Customer Officer.

Steve Hulme has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. Steve joins from Tandem Money where he was CFO for the last two years. Before Tandem, Steve served as CFO for PayPal’s global credit business and as CFO for Capital One’s UK and Canadian business. With more than 17 years at financial innovators such as PayPal and Capital One, Steve’s experience will be immensely useful as Zopa moves towards launching its next generation bank.

Phillip Dransfield joins Zopa as Chief Risk Officer from TSB Bank where he was responsible for leading the credit risk function. He brings over 20 years of experience managing risk, the last 12 years of which were with two of the UK’s largest retail banks. Phillip will be responsible for maintaining and furthering Zopa’s unique track record in prudent risk management while continuing to be on the forefront of customer focused innovation in financial services.

Clare Gambardella has been appointed Chief Customer Officer, moving from her previous role as Group Chief Marketing Officer at Virgin Active where she was responsible for brand and marketing for the group’s international network covering 270 clubs in 10 countries. At Zopa, Clare will lead the Marketing, HR, and Customer facing teams, ensuring that the company’s unique internal culture, award winning customer service, and marketing and communications, align to strengthen the brand.

JaidevJanardana, Zopa’s CEO, comments: “Last year was another stellar year for the growth and development of Zopa and our team continues to go from strength to strength in 2018 at what is a hugely exciting time for the business. We’re delighted to have three high profile and exceptionally talented people join the business. Our people are our biggest competitive advantage and these additions further strengthen our position.”