NatWest Group plc (NWG) has announced the appointment of Gill Whitehead as an independent non-executive director.

Whitehead recently stepped down from her role as group director, online safety at Ofcom. She currently serves as chair of Rugby World Cup 2025, chair of the audit committee and non-executive director of the British Olympic Association and chair of the audit committee and non-executive director of Informa PLC. Whitehead was previously a non-executive director of the Financial Ombudsman Service and Camelot.

Whitehead brings more than 25 years of executive experience in the technology and media sectors, having worked at Ofcom, Google, Channel 4 and the BBC. She is a visiting policy fellow at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute, focusing on global developments in online and AI safety.

Whitehead has spent the last few years mobilising tech regulation in the UK, and was the inaugural chief executive of the UK’s Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum, on behalf of the UK’s largest regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority. She chaired the Global Online Safety Regulators Network.

Rick Haythornthwaite, chair of NatWest Group, said: “I am delighted to welcome Gill Whitehead to the NWG board. Gill’s deep expertise in data science and analytics, emerging customer focused technologies, global technology regulation and digital transformation are all highly relevant skills. She will be a strong addition to the board.”