Our core team is based in North Wales.
We come from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, but everyone believes in making a difference through our products. This means we’re outcome-focused and non-hierarchical in the way that we work and challenge. We expect everyone to ‘be the change’ – to deliver more for our customers.
Meet our Team
Andy Mielczarek
Chief Executive Officer
Andy has broad experience of driving commercial performance across entities and jurisdictions. Prior to Chetwood, he was the deputy head of HSBC’s UK Retail Bank, having previously been Commercial Director and Head of Retail Products for HSBC Europe.
Andy has also been the CFO at M&S Bank, Head of Commercial Finance at MBNA, and Brokerage Operations Director at Charles Schwab.
Andy has been an FCA approved person for many years carrying out a broad range of regulated roles.
Simon Allsop
Chief Financial Officer
Simon has executive responsibility for all aspects of finance and treasury. He has 15 years of experience in the challenger bank and non-bank FI space, and specialises in Liability Management, Treasury and Capital Markets.
Prior to Chetwood, Simon was Group Director of Capital Markets at OneSavings Bank and has previously held senior positions at Fitch Ratings and at Charter Court Financial Services where he was a key member of the management team that led the company through its 2017 IPO.
Julian Hynd
Chief Operating Officer
Julian joined Chetwood Financial as Chief Operating Officer in late 2023,
bringing with him more than 30 years experience in financial services and a
strong record of building, growing and transforming businesses.
Over the course of his career, he has worked for a number of recognised brands, including First Rand, Siemens Southern Africa, National Savings & Investments, and Ford Credit Europe, where he led the development of Ford Money, a UK online savings bank. Julian also worked for Volkswagen Financial Services, where he led the development of their UK online savings bank; and Shawbrook Bank, where he oversaw the company’s operational and digital transformation.
Paul Patterson
Chief Risk Officer
As Chief Risk Officer, Paul oversees our second line risk management functions including Enterprise Risk, Financial Crime, Regulatory Compliance, Data Privacy & Credit Risk balancing positive commercial results with good customer outcomes.
Prior to joining Chetwood in 2020, he held a number of regulatory compliance and enterprise risk leadership roles for businesses across the consumer banking and lending sectors, including Barclays, HSBC and Volkswagen Bank. Paul's specialist experience in consumer credit regulation & conduct spans 17 years in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US.
Andrew Arwas
Managing Director - Mortgages
With over 30 years' experience in Financial Services, Andrew has led the strategy and implementation for several major business transformations and launches, including that of LiveLend in 2018 - Chetwood's first consumer brand. Most recently, Andrew led the definition of Chetwood's Mortgage strategy and has guided the delivery of ModaMortgages since that time.
Prior to Chetwood, Andrew spent 12 years with Barclays, including three years as Head of Strategy and then Head of Change for Barclays Mortgages. After leaving Barclays, Andrew worked for 11 years at financial service consultancy, Capco, ultimately leading the UK Wealth & Asset Management Practice.
Lizzie Chinchen
Director of Delivery
As Chetwood's Director of Delivery, Lizzie plays a crucial role in facilitating our growth and ensuring the successful execution of our projects and initiatives. Her background in mathematics and economics, versatility and knack for driving innovative change make her a valuable asset to our leadership team.
With 10 years of experience across management consultancy, fintech start-up and scale-up banking environments, Lizzie began her financial services career as a consultant at Capco. Before its merger with Chetwood, she served as Client Service Lead, and later Head of Delivery, at Yobota.
Sam Compton
Director of Operations
Sam is Director of Operations at Chetwood Financial. With over 22 years in the financial services sector, Sam has a proven track record in leading high-performance senior leadership teams across multiple functions and geographies with a focus on the customer.
With extensive experience in retail banking and asset management, Sam previously led Customer Service Planning and Strategic Operations for the Bank of America and was responsible for Client Services and Customer Experience at Close Brothers Asset Management.
Louise Millar
People Director
Louise joined Chetwood in 2022 as Head of People, where she's responsible for all aspects of human resources management for our colleagues and contractors, including workplace culture, diversity & inclusion, talent acquisition & retention, and benefits & compensation. Louise is the driving force behind Chetwood's corporate values, ensuring our colleagues actively contribute to making Chetwood a place people want to work.
With over 20 years of professional human resources experience across the UK and the Middle East, including firms like BAE Systems, Toyota/Lexus, Eon and the Very Group, Louise provides valued strategic counsel to our entire team to enable the business to achieve its goals.
Our Directors
Ian Lonergan
Chairman
As the Group Chairman of Chetwood Financial, Ian provides leadership of the Board. Ian’s principal duties and responsibilities are providing strong strategic oversight, setting the agenda, challenging management’s thinking, and proposals to ensure sharpness of thinking and creativity in a challenging, complex and fast-changing environment.
Ian has been working with ModaMortgages since 2021, where he’s been instrumental in strategy, design and the launch of the mortgage business. In his executive career, Ian was the CEO and founder of Charter Court Financial Services, which, via its brand Precise Mortgages, grew from launch to be one of the largest BTL and residential specialist mortgage lenders in the UK. Charter Court gained banking permissions in 2015 and launched Charter Savings Bank, providing a highly competitive range of retail savings accounts. Ian led Charter Court through its listing on the FTSE 250 in 2017. Ian has worked in financial services for over 30 years, including at GMAC, edeus, AMP and Ernst & Young.
Emer Daly
Chair of Audit Committee
Emer has a wealth of experience working as a Non-Executive Director within financial services.
She’s currently Board Chairman of RSA Insurance Ireland. Previously, Emer was the Chair of the Audit Committee of Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc and Permanent TSB plc, Audit and Risk Committee Chair for Friends Provident International Ltd (a subsidiary of Aviva plc), and Lombard International Assurance S.A.
Emer has also previously held non-executive directorships roles with two Irish listed companies; FBD Holdings plc and Payzone plc, and with state owned Irish entities EirGrid plc (an electricity transmission system operator), and Dublin Dental University Hospital and Irish Property Registration Authority.
Matt Symonds
Senior Independent Director and Remuneration Committee Chair
Matt’s an independent business adviser and investor, with deep experience in retail financial services.
He was formerly a senior Partner in the London office of Bain & Company where he was the leader of Bain’s UK Financial Services practice. Over his career, Matt has worked with retail banks, life assurers, asset managers, card issuers, consumer finance companies and private banks across the UK, Ireland, continental Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.
Matt also serves on the Boards of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Nottingham Contemporary, and Action for M.E.
Mike Bracken
Non Executive Director
Mike’s also a Non-Executive Director of Lloyd's of London and Omidyar Network and a Partner in Public Digital, helping governments, public institutions and commercial organisations with digital transformation.
He was formerly Chief Digital Officer for the Co-Operative Group and Chief Data Officer for the UK Government. Prior to this, Mike was Director of Digital Development at Guardian News & Media where he was responsible for all consumer facing technology services.
Duncan Martin
Non Executive Director
Duncan is a Senior Advisor for the risk management practice at Boston Consulting Group London and Soteria Software.
His previous roles in the banking industry include Director of Credit Analytics at Royal Bank of Scotland and Director of Strategic Risk Management at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
Duncan formerly held consultant roles at Oliver Wyman and Co. and Booz Allen & Hamilton.
