Lowell appoints John Pears as UK managing director

Most recently, he was director of credit risk and operations at Shop Direct where, over the last six years, he worked on the transformation of brands such as Very and Littlewoods. He will join Lowell “later this year”, the firm said.

He will report to the chief executive, James Cornell, and take charge of the UK business; covering the debt purchase business, Lowell Financial; Fredricksons, which provides third party services; and Lowell Solicitors. These businesses together have a headcount of 1,800 across Lowell’s Leeds and Tolworth sites.

Before joining Shop Direct, Pears was the consumer risk executive for Europe at Bank of America and he also held various, senior management positions at MBNA.

Group chief executive, James Cornell, said: “I am delighted that John has agreed to join us and lead our UK businesses. He has a wealth of highly relevant experience and an excellent knowledge of our business already through his time at Shop Direct.

“I look forward to working with him and, from the whole team at Lowell, I wish him every success.”

John Pears commented: “I have known Lowell, and the team there for some time, so I am delighted to be joining them. Their values and their customer-focused approach, along with their ambitious growth plans, make them a very attractive company to belong to.”