Wesleyan has announced the appointment of Mario Mazzocchi as its new group chief executive with effect from 1 August 2019.

He moves into the role from his current position as chief operating officer.

Mazzocchi (pictured) takes over from Craig Errington who announced his retirement at Wesleyan’s AGM in May after 15 years as chief executive and 28 years with the company.

Mazzocchi joined Wesleyan as chief operating officer in December 2018, moving from Lloyds Banking Group where he was chief operating officer for the insurance and wealth division. He spent 15 years at Lloyds working across a number of functions within the group including marketing, sales, change, strategy and operations across retail, corporate banking and insurance.

Wesleyan chair Nathan Moss said: “We are delighted to appoint Mario as group chief executive. His extensive financial services experience makes him the right person to lead Wesleyan into the next phase of our strategic development.

“We’re living in a fast-changing world and we need a strong, customer-focused leader to keep us on track and true to our purpose of being the specialist partner to our professional customers. Mario has already shown himself to be that leader and I am looking forward to working with him to deliver continued success for members and customers.

“Of course, he has big shoes to fill as he takes over from Craig Errington, who has contributed so much to Wesleyan’s growth over the past 15 years. Craig played a key role in transforming Wesleyan from an underperforming mass market brand in the early 2000s into one of the leading specialist financial services providers in the industry today. The Board and I thank him for his contribution to Wesleyan’s successful growth and wish him well in his retirement.”

Mazzocchi added: “I am honoured to take up the role of group chief executive at Wesleyan. This is a very special business with a fantastic proposition for our professional customers and a great reputation because of that.

“We have industry-leading financial strength and a clear sense of identity as a mutual business, with a proud history spanning 178 years. These things combined put us in a very strong position to grow our business further in our core markets.

“My focus will be on developing a more agile business ready to respond to the challenges of the future, with a continued commitment to driving value for our members while delivering the best service for our customers.

“I am looking forward to working with the committed and professional employees we have  across the Group to make Wesleyan the number one choice for our customers.”