Chetwood Financial has announced Julian Hynd as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Hynd (pictured) has over 30 years’ experience in financial services, with a record of building, growing, and transforming businesses.

Over the course of his career, he has worked for several 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. Hynd also worked for Volkswagen Financial Services, where he led the development of its UK online savings bank.

Most recently, Hynd led the operational and digital transformation at Shawbrook Bank and the commercial transformation at Redwood Bank.

Founded in 2016, Wrexham-based Chetwood Financial is a digital bank. As well as its existing consumer savings products, Chetwood Financial is soon to launch ModaMortgages, a new specialist, broker-only buy-to-let mortgage lender.

As COO, Hynd will have executive responsibility for bringing Chetwood Financial’s strategy to life through the company’s technology, operations, and people. He will also help bring the ModaMortgages proposition to market later this year.

Hynd said: “I’m delighted to have joined the Chetwood team. The company’s goal is to deliver exceptional products and services to help people financially – and it’s one I wholeheartedly believe in.

“I’m excited to play my part in ensuring we achieve that goal from an operations perspective.”

Andy Mielczarek, Chetwood’s founder and CEO, added: “It’s great to welcome Julian to the team. He joins at a dynamic time for Chetwood, with exciting projects in the pipeline for the coming year, not least the launch of ModaMortgages.

“Julian’s experience and expertise when it comes to operations in the financial spaces will no doubt prove extremely valuable in helping Chetwood achieve its ambitious plans for 2024 and beyond.”