Richard Tugwell, Director of Intermediary Relationships at Virgin Money

Financial Reporter had a chat with Richard Tugwell, Director of Intermediary Relationships at Virgin Money.

Related topics:  In The Spotlight
Amy Loddington
12th November 2012
In The Spotlight
FR: You have recently completed your rebrand exercise – how has the reaction been?

By providing customers with fair and transparent products, the business passed the landmark of opening ‘one million’ new accounts this year in the first week of October 2012.  The new accounts have been opened by customers across the combined business, spanning savings, mortgages, credit cards, insurance and investment products.

As well as this strong start in attracting and retaining customers, a key focus for the company in 2012 has been the successful integration of the Northern Rock and Virgin Money businesses. That process included the rebranding of the entire business as Virgin Money, which is now complete.  The former Northern Rock plc has been renamed as Virgin Money plc, the network of 75 branches has been transformed into Virgin Money Stores, and all customers have been updated to let them know they are now Virgin Money customers.

We’re delighted that so many customers have chosen to join us.

FR: What opportunities has the rebrand opened up for you?

So far this year we’ve been focused on rebranding Northern Rock while continuing to grow the business – which we have successfully achieved.  Rebranding a business is a big undertaking and now that the process is complete, it puts us in a strong position to move forward.  While many lenders are shrinking their books, we are committed to supporting the market by growing our book. And while the net market has been generally flat this year, we’re really proud to be contributing a significant share of net new mortgage lending in 2012, providing much needed competition.

FR: How are you finding current market conditions?

Conditions remain tough for many borrowers and the market has seen a significant contraction over recent years.  As a lender we make real efforts to work with intermediaries and customers to ensure we are offering products that meet their needs.  Economic conditions are a key consideration for us in both our product design and, as a responsible lender, in checking that applicants can afford the loan they’re applying for – to protect the customer as well as the company.  I think we’ve started to see the impact of the Funding for Lending scheme feeding through to the market, with many lenders reducing rates.  That’s really positive for the market, and we hope to see the effects filtering through in market completion figures.

FR: In your opinion, what steps should the financial services sector be taking to re-build trust and confidence amongst consumers?

I don’t think many people would argue that general confidence in banks is at an all time low, and the financial sector has much to do to regain the trust of the British public.

Virgin Money’s ambition is to build a better kind of bank, by genuinely caring about our customers and their needs, by offering straightforward, no-nonsense products, and by using our expertise with money to do some good in the world.

Trust is something only others can bestow on those that earn it. And that’s what Virgin Money is aiming for with our ambition to make everyone better off.

FR: Where do you think we will see the most change in the financial services industry over the next 12 months?

Two of the key areas to watch are the impact of Funding for Lending and development of the Mortgage Market Review. The final rules for MMR are now out and we are busy analysing what this will mean in detail, but we fully support the FSA's overall objective of protecting consumers. We are operating in line with many elements of the new rules already as a responsible lender, so overall we're in a good position for this. The new rules will make the role of the mortgage intermediary as important as ever as they work with lenders to ensure that they meet their clients needs.

FR: If you weren’t in financial services, what would you be doing instead?

I have a passion for football, golf and travel so I would like to think that my time would be split between European trips watching Spurs win the Champions League and a world tour to play the top golf courses. Watching Spurs and the recent Ryder Cup exploits of the winning European team has made me realise that there is some work to do both for Spurs and on my swing before I could achieve this.

Richard has been with Virgin Money since 1986, having started his career in Stores before moving into intermediary specialisation.  Prior to Virgin Money, Richard worked at The Halifax before moving to personal loan company Avco Trust.

Richard is also a director with IMLA and MBL and is a regular attendee and contributor to industry and regulatory forums with CML and AMI/AIFA. 

Richard lives in Upminster, outside of London with his wife and 17 year old son. Football takes up a lot of his spare time, whether at Tottenham’s White Hart Lane where he is a season ticket holder, or with his son’s football club, who he supports and helps out with as often as possible. Richard also enjoys playing golf and loves to travel – particularly to America.

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