Appointments: Blue Bay Travel, Bournville Village Trust and Al Rayan Bank

Maxine Rowland, Blue Bay Travel

Maxine Rowland has been appointed as managing director of Staffordshire-based travel experts, Blue Bay Travel.

Rowland, who has been promoted from the role of general manager, joined the company in 2012. During her 25-year career in the travel industry, she has previously worked for the Co-operative Travel Trading Group.

Rowland said: “I will work tirelessly with our talented internal team and fantastic range of supply partners to make Blue Bay Travel the operator of choice for long haul travel.

“I truly believe that once customers have discovered Blue Bay they find it impossible to find a competitor to rival our value, experience and service. My aim is to communicate this unique offering to a much wider audience”

Birmingham-based Bournville Village Trust has appointed Pete Richmond as its chief executive.

Pete Richmond

The housing charity was founded in 1900 by chocolate-maker George Cadbury, and provides services to 8,000 homes and 25,000 people in Birmingham and Telford.

Richmond will join the Trust in June, after stepping down from his role as leader of Pioneer Group, where he worked for 20 years. Richmond is also a former chair of Birmingham’s Social Housing Partnership and commissioner of Birmingham Poverty Truth.

Richmond said: “After 20 years at Pioneer Group I will miss the people and partners who have been so committed to the community-led regeneration of Castle Vale and the surrounding area.

“The valuable experience I have gained however will put me in a good position to lead an organisation that has been developing and influencing the creation of flourishing communities and garden villages for nearly 120 years.”

Wahid Ali

Al Rayan Bank has appointed Wahid Ali as its chief risk officer, based in the bank’s operational headquarters in Birmingham.

Ali will report directly to the bank’s chief executive, Sultan Choudhury, and will lead the expansion of the bank’s risk function as it plans for growth.

Ali has held roles in the banking and financial consulting industries, and joins the bank from Future Williams and Glyn, RBS. Ali was previously a senior manager at the Bank of England for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) Supervision Division, and at Deloitte UK.

Ali said “I first became familiar with the Al Rayan Bank when working for the PRA, and my assessment was then, as it is now, that it has a bright future. There is a dynamic leadership team driving the Bank forward; it has a sound strategy and is starting to make its mark on the global map as a notable bank pioneering Islamic finance in the UK.”

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