UK’s OakNorth welcomes Lord Adair Turner as its new Chairman

By Gloria Methri

OakNorth, the neobank for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs, is strengthening its board with the appointment of Lord (Adair) Turner, as its Chairman.

Lord Turner has an extensive track record in financial services, including as Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, a Board Director of Standard Chartered, Chair of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), a member of the Court of the Bank of England, and a founder member of the Financial Policy Committee.

OakNorth said Turner’s appointment reflects the company’s commitment to building a robust business that supports its clients through economic cycles. His appointment also reflects its efforts to support a more sustainable future. It was the first bank to be net zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2019, followed by a target to achieve net zero for the emissions it finances by 2035.

Turner has already played a part in OakNorth’s story to date through his previous independent counsel. He has served on its Advisory Board for several years, as well as previously held the role of Senior Independent Director with the business from 2015 to 2017.

OakNorth’s current Chairman, Cyrus Ardalan, will be stepping down at the end of the year after eight years in the role, as per the Corporate Governance Code.

Commenting on the appointment, Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder of OakNorth, said, “Lord Turner’s appointment as our Chairman is an exciting milestone for the business. His expertise will be invaluable as we continue our journey of expanding into new products and services and supporting our customers in their growth ambitions. Adair joined the FSA as Chairman at the peak of the financial crisis in 2008, so had a front-row seat as to what went wrong and played a central role in writing the regulation to help prevent history from repeating itself. As we broaden our offering to customers with a wider range of business banking products, Adair’s experience across financial regulation will be incredibly useful in ensuring we continue to scale robustly.”

Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of OakNorth, added, “I have been following OakNorth’s impressive growth story since I first met Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman back in 2014, and am excited by the opportunity to support its continued success. The business has impressive growth plans, as well as ambitious plans for sustainability – notably to be net zero for all its emissions by 2035, which will involve a huge amount of work with its customers. I look forward to working with the talented OakNorth team.”