Mortgage lender Nationwide poaches first female boss from TSB

One of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders will be led by a woman for the first time in its nearly 140-year history after Nationwide stole TSB’s boss for its top job.

Debbie Crosbie will join the bank next year as she takes over from Nationwide’s six-year boss Kevin Parry.

Scotland-born Crosbie is just two and a half years into her role at TSB. She departs with the bank having credited her with leading a “successful turnaround”.

She was brought in as the bank tried to put behind it an IT meltdown which cost it £250m and severely damaged its reputation.

She now takes on a new role at Nationwide, a lender in a considerably better position than TSB when she took over in 2019.

It is second only to Lloyds in the UK’s mortgage market and revealed last month that pre-tax profits had more than doubled in the first half of the financial year.

It was reaping the benefit of not scaling back lending during the early days of the pandemic, unlike many of its rivals.

“Following a thorough and rigorous selection process, she emerged as the outstanding candidate to lead Nationwide,” said Nationwide chairman-elect Kevin Parry.

“She is a strong advocate of mutuality and supports Nationwide’s core purpose and the societal role it plays.”

Crosbie said: “Nationwide’s mutual status, combined with its trusted brand and market-leading customer service, make it a purposeful and unique force for good.

“I’m delighted to be asked to lead the society in its next phase of growth and to work with its members and colleagues to make it the leading retail financial services provider in the UK.”

Her role at TSB will be filled by chief customer officer Robin Bulloch until a permanent replacement can be found.

Cesar Gonzalez-Bueno, the chief executive of TSB owner Sabadell, said: “We warmly thank Debbie for leading TSB back to growth.

“TSB is a valued part of the Sabadell Group and we look forward to working with Robin to achieve our shared goals.”