Nationwide has appointed Hannah Bernard OBE as group director of business banking, effective from January 2026.
Bernard was previously head of business banking at Barclays UK, responsible for performance, growth and strategy.
She has also worked as deputy CEO at Sainsbury’s Bank and director of customer experience at Sainsbury’s Supermarkets.
In her new role, she will lead the business banking strategy, aiming to extend the mutual model to businesses in the UK.
Bernard said: “Nationwide is one of the strongest brands in the UK and its customer service is industry leading.
“I’m looking forward to combining these strengths into a strategy for business banking that is distinctive in the UK and realises the potential of the Virgin Money acquisition.”
Dame Debbie Crosbie DBE, group CEO at Nationwide Building Society, said: “We intend to bring the same customer focus to business banking that Nationwide has been so successful with in retail banking.
“Hannah’s commercial acumen, customer-first approach and experience means we can quickly bring the benefits of mutuality at scale to business banking for the first time in the UK.”
