Redwood Bank has named Simon Goodyear as its new chief information and technology officer (CTIO).

Goodyear (pictured) joins the challenger bank at a time of increasing emphasis on technology strategy and cyber resilience.

He brings significant industry experience, having previously held senior technology roles within the financial services sector. Most recently, at JBR Capital, Goodyear oversaw key technology programmes and helped steer the business through a successful sale process.

At Redwood, he will focus on streamlining operations, embedding automation and leading a wide-ranging review of the bank’s data and IT architecture.

“Joining Redwood is both a professional challenge and a personal opportunity. The culture here is genuinely collaborative and driven, and that’s what drew me in,” Goodyear said.

“My aim is to help Redwood enhance what it already does so well – particularly its customer-centric, manual underwriting approach – while using technology to remove friction, streamline processes and unlock valuable insights through data.”

Redwood promotes its personalised service and hands-on underwriting, and Goodyear is clear that the bank’s high-touch approach will remain intact. He views technology not as a substitute for human judgement, but as a means of enhancing it.

“Technology should enable people to focus on where they can add the most value,” he added.

“By eliminating low-value manual tasks and improving access to high-quality data, we can empower our teams to make even better decisions – and serve our customers even more effectively.”

His remit also includes strengthening the bank’s cybersecurity posture and assessing its use of artificial intelligence. Goodyear maintains that any successful AI strategy must be built on “great data and robust governance” and plans to ensure the right foundations are in place to support innovation while managing risk.

Gary Wilkinson, chief executive and co-founder of Redwood Bank, said Goodyear’s appointment was key to the bank’s growth plans. “Simon brings a rare blend of technical expertise, strategic thinking and a people-first mindset.

“As Redwood continues to grow, it’s critical we have the right leadership in place to modernise our infrastructure while staying true to our identity. I’m delighted to welcome him to the team.”

Founded in 2017, Redwood Bank focuses on providing business mortgages and loans to small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK.