Ex-Nationwide marketer takes chief executive role

Stroud & Swindon Building Society has appointed former Nationwide sales and marketing director John Sutherland as its chief executive.

Sutherland, a financial services veteran, takes up the new job this week, following a spell with the Bank of England as an adviser. He takes over from David Hill, who left Stroud & Swindon last August.

In his new role, Sutherland will be in charge of helping restore Stroud & Swindon’s image, which has been hit by the recession. The company is Britain’s tenth-biggest building society, but lost £2.7m in 2008. It has assets in excess of £3bn and operates through a branch network of 22 offices.

Sutherland spent over 20 years in senior management at Nationwide and left as its executive director, sales and marketing in September 2008, as revealed by Marketing Week.