Welsh Building Society Principality to Appoint First female Chair in History

Sally Jones-Evans is to be appointed the new chair of Principality Building Society’s board in April 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

This follows an external search led by Board’s Senior Independent Director, Derek Howell.

Cardiff-born Sally will become the first female chair in the Society’s 160-year history and will succeed Laurie Adams who is retiring from the Board next April as part of succession planning. She has been a member of the Society’s Board since 2015, including her role as the Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

Sally is a former Lloyds Banking group executive and currently sits on the boards of Hafren Dyfrydwy Ltd (a subsidiary of Severn Trent Plc), Saga Services Ltd, the insurance broking arm of Saga Group Plc and Delio Wealth Ltd, a Welsh fast growing ‘fintech’ company. She also serves as a Trustee of Tearfund, the humanitarian and overseas development charity.

Laurie Adams, Chairman of Principality’s Board said: “Sally’s 30 years of experience in retail banking which involved leading people mainly in areas directly serving customers, made her such a strong candidate to become the new Chair subject to regulatory approval. She has been a prominent non-executive director Board member for the past five years has a deep knowledge of the business and what matters to our members.

“This is another proud moment in Principality’s rich history as we now will have our first female Chair, joining Julie Ann Haines our first female CEO working in tandem to take our business forward.”

Sally said: “This is a very proud moment for me and a role which I am looking forward to starting. I’m delighted to be a part of Principality’s future and help it deliver the same qualities of value and outstanding customer service in a rapidly evolving financial services market. The Society’s consistent focus on putting members’ interests first is one of its stand out characteristics, and it will be an honour to serve as the first female Chair of this great organisation.”