Callcredit strengthens board

CALLCREDIT Information Group, the Leeds-based credit reference business, has announced the appointment of John Spence as non-executive chairman of the group and Laurel Powers-Freeling as non-executive director.

Spence has a wealth of experience, having held a number of senior executive roles in Lloyd’s Banking Group. More recently, he has been a non-executive director with HMRC, where he chaired the Audit Committee. Other non-executive roles include The Money Advice Service and Spicerhaart Group. He has worked with Government on a number of task forces and initiatives.  In the voluntary sector, he is finance chair for Business in the Community and the Archbishop’s Council and has chaired various national charities. He is also the president of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and helped to bring Tian Tian and Yang Guang, the only giant pandas in the UK, to Edinburgh Zoo.

Powers-Freeling also has an extensive background within financial services, having held senior positions at an executive and leadership level with McKinsey & Co (Atlanta, New York and London), Prudential and Lloyds TSB Retail Bank. Powers-Freeling was also chief executive Financial Services at Marks & Spencer, executive director of American Express Europe and group CEO of Dubai First International. More recently, Powers-Freeling was a non-executive director and senior advisor for the Bank of England.
 
John McAndrew, CEO of Callcredit Information Group, said: “John becoming chairman and Laurel joining our board, together with our new investors GTCR, will strengthen our governance, as they all have strong knowledge of our customers’ needs and the new regulatory framework. I know they will reinforce our strategy of competing through customer focus and innovation and will help to ensure that as a business we are fit for purpose as we continue to grow both in the UK and internationally.”