People: Wesleyan, The Wigley Group, Serendipity2

Birmingham’s Wesleyan, the specialist financial services mutual for doctors, dentists and teachers has appointed Gary Dixon to its board of directors.

A chartered accountant by training, Dixon has more than 30 years’ experience in financial services and regulation. After starting his career at Coopers and Lybrand (now PwC) he joined Pointon York, a financial services group, where he rose to the position of Chief Financial Officer.

In 2001, Dixon formed Resources Compliance UK and following the sale of the group in 2008 to a global plc, he later took on the role of interim Chief Executive of Home and Capital Trust Limited Group.

Dixon is an experienced non-executive director and currently sits on the Board of fintech company Trading 212 and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s largest funded pension scheme. He is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee for both organisations.

He is also Chair of Council at the University of Leicester and sits on the Member Appointment Committee for the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the regulatory body for auditors, accountants and actuaries.

Subject to regulatory approval, Dixon will replace Andrew Neden as Chair of the Audit Committee when Andrew retires later this year after nine years as a Wesleyan Non-Executive Director.

Wesleyan Chair Nathan Moss said: “We are grateful to Andrew for his committed contribution to Wesleyan. He has played an integral role in helping the Society as it moves through a far-reaching transformation programme. He leaves with our sincere thanks.

“Gary is an excellent successor bringing a wealth of skills and experience to the Board. As Wesleyan continues to execute our ambitious growth strategy, I’m confident Gary will play an invaluable role in ensuring we continue to maintain robust internal controls and strong financial reporting.”

Commenting on his appointment Gary said: “I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck into my new role at Wesleyan. The business has huge potential and exciting plans for the future. As you’d expect of a financially strong mutual like Wesleyan, there is clear evidence of a strong corporate governance culture and I look forward to developing this in an evolving regulatory landscape.”

Director of group operations Chris Parsons with head of central group operations Danny Leitch

A former British Army Major has been appointed to the newly-created post of head of central group operations at The Wigley Group.

Danny Leitch has more than 30 years of military experience, which included operational deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland.

The former British Army Parachute Regiment Major with a proven background in operational planning, organisational agility and resilience, and is also a graduate of the UK’s
Defence Academy and Staff Program.

As The Wigley Group’s first dedicated Central Group Operations lead, his new role will see him implement the company’s operational and strategic goals and oversee its central group operations, which provides functions ranging from communications, finance, to HSQE (health, safety, quality and environment).

Warwickshire’s Wigley Group is active in real estate investment, development and construction, as well as asset management of portfolios for both itself and commercial partners.

Leitch, who joins from the official Parachute Regiment charity Support Our Paras said: “I’m thrilled to be joining The Wigley Group – a company I have known for some time through both its strong reputation and charitable work in support of the UK Armed Forces.

“The company’s core values – operating within the highest professional standards, integrity and innovation, whilst being reliable and united in its goals – are all values I hold dear from my own personal and military background, and that is something which really appealed to me”.

Since 2013 it has raised more than £160,000 for the official Parachute Regiment charity, Support Our Paras, and established the Wigley Support Fund (WSF) in 2017 to support and help re-train injured serving and veteran service people in all areas of their transition from military to civilian life.

Food and drink marketing consultancy, Serendipity2 has announced the appointment of Cayley Goss as the company’s new strategy and insights director.

Cayley Goss

With an extensive background in data analytics and research, Goss brings a wealth of expertise after working for a major South African firm, as well as serving as a senior strategy consultant at Kantar, where she specialised in consumer segmentation and occasion-based analysis.

Goss said: “I create simple solutions from complex data inputs.

“My expertise lies in taking oceans of data and manipulating it to pinpoint actionable insights to benefit clients. I am therefore excited to work with Serendipity2’s existing and new clients – many of which are household names – to bring new perspectives to our data led services.”

Peter Flood, CEO and Founder of Serendipity2 said: “Data really is at the heart of our proposition, therefore Cayley’s specialism in data analytics and strategic thinking will support all client work moving forward.

“She will play a key role in ensuring that we continue to evolve our data science and technology platforms to benefit our clients and I’m confident that Cayley’s appointment will help to further strengthen our leading position in the market.”

For 22 years, Serendipity2’s team has used data science, technology, and industry expertise to help consumer brands and retailers accelerate business performance and drive growth. It has offices in London and Leamington Spa.