Hodge has appointed former Ascentric chief executive, Rob Regan, as its new chief operating officer (COO).

Ryan (pictured) has previously held roles as chief operating officer at Legal & General (L&G) and group operations director at Royal London Group.

In his most recent role, he was chief executive of digital savings, pensions and investment firm, Ascentric for three years.

He said: “Joining Hodge as its new COO is a tremendous opportunity. Hodge is a proud Welsh business with fantastic heritage and a real force for good in its sector.

“I’m looking forward to enhancing collaboration across the business, continuing to develop the great culture that’s been established at the bank. Its central Cardiff base means it’s ideally positioned to build fantastic partnerships in the Welsh Fintech sector and to play its part in developing the future talent of Wales. The combination of fantastic people and a strong focus on technology will enable Hodge deliver against its core purpose to make a difference for its customers, in the moments that matter.

“Hodge is a business I have admired from afar during my career and joining the business while it’s planning its next stage of growth and introducing such innovative mortgage products to the market, is really exciting. Its recent investments in fintech and energy technology companies is also something I’m really passionate about and I’m looking forward to learning more about these exciting disruptors.”

Dave Landen, CEO of Hodge, added: “Having someone of Rob’s calibre and experience join us at Hodge is a real coup. Rob joins at an incredibly exciting time in our history as we continue to grow and support our customers with our specialist offerings, he will lead our customer service, operational, change and technology teams.

“Rob will continue the enhancements we have made to our customer service teams as we strive to deliver excellent customer experiences and lead our move to offering first class digital services. I welcome Rob to Hodge and look forward to working closely with him as we build a hugely exciting future.”