Provident appoints chairman as CEO

This follows a board process led by Stuart Sinclair, now acting as interim chairman, over recent months.

Provident said its board believes that Le May is an outstanding candidate for the role, given his existing knowledge of the group, his regulatory understanding, and turnaround and leadership skills.

In making this decision the board has consulted with some of its leading shareholders and discussed the appointment with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The board also notes that since the trading statement on the January 16 2018, home credit continues to make good operational progress, and discussions continue with the FCA in relation to the Vanquis Bank and Moneybarn investigations.

Sinclair said: “It became clear to the board, as the search was progressing, that the executive chairman, who has been instrumental in driving the business forward over recent months, was the best person to complete the turnaround of Provident Financial Group as the new group chief executive.”

Le May said: “My key objective is to execute a turnaround of the group. We will re-establish a stronger customer focused business; conclude with our regulators the issues surrounding Vanquis Bank and Moneybarn.”

Provident has also announced a number of senior appointments to drive the execution of the group’s strategy under Le May:

Executive

• Chris Sweeney, managing director of Vanquis Bank, will continue to focus on leadership of Vanquis Bank and the successful resolution of ROP; once this has been achieved the board intends to appoint him as deputy group chief executive in addition to his Vanquis Bank role;
• The permanent appointment of Chris Gillespie, managing director of the consumer credit division, who will continue to focus on its continued successful turnaround;
• The appointment of Steve Grigg, as interim group chief information and technology officer, to define the group’s long-term IT architecture.

Board

• The board has instigated a process to appoint a new external chairman as well as two additional non-executive directors as soon as practicable;
• The appointment of Stuart Sinclair as interim chairman, with Sinclair moving to this role from that of senior independent director;
• The appointment of Andrea Blance as the new senior independent director.