Nationwide Appoints Debbie Crosbie as First Female CEO

(Bloomberg) -- Nationwide Building Society named Debbie Crosbie as chief executive officer, making her the first woman to run the lender in its 137-year history.

Crosbie joins next year from rival TSB where she was also CEO, the company said in a statement on Friday. Nationwide, the U.K.’s second-largest mortgage lender, more than doubled its profit before tax in the six months to September as demand for home loans continued to grow through the pandemic. 

“She brings significant banking experience combined with deep operational and technological knowledge -- core skills that are needed to run a modern building society,” Kevin Parry, Nationwide’s incoming chairman, said in a statement.

Crosbie is among a handful of women running British banks, including Alison Rose at NatWest Group Plc and Anne Boden at Starling Bank. Before joining TSB in May 2019, Crosbie spent two decades at Clydesdale Bank, including a stint as acting CEO during the group’s demerger and subsequent stock market listing.

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