The board of Nottingham Building Society has appointed Chris Sparks to the board as a non-executive director with effect from 1 March 2025. Subject to regulatory approval, Sparks will succeed Kerry Spooner as chair of the board risk committee. Spooner will continue in her role as senior independent director.

Sparks spent nine years as chief risk officer at challenger bank Atom Bank. A member of the executive committee, he led on ensuring risk management excellence.

Sparks joined Atom in 2015 following a leadership career in the UK retail banking sector where he specialised in finance, data and risk management. He spent his early career at HSBC and GE Capital and then spent nine years at Royal Bank of Scotland in a number of specialist data and analytics leadership roles. He was appointed director of financial risk and analytics at Virgin Money in 2012.

Nottingham Building Society’s chair, Robin Ashton, said: “I am delighted to welcome Chris to our board as chair of the risk committee. His accomplished executive career in UK retail banking will enable him to bring insight, rigour and deep expertise to our board discussions and will benefit the society as the team delivers transformation and continued growth on behalf of our members.”