British Friendly has appointed Simon Lodge and Nicki Webber as non-executive directors.
In addition to serving on the board of British Friendly, Lodge holds a directorship at Canada Life and serves as a trustee of the Epilepsy Research Institute.
In his executive career, he served for six years as CFO for Europe at Canada Life, and previously spent eight years as CFO for the US life business at Zurich Insurance. Earlier in his career, he spent nearly 10 years at Police Mutual Assurance Society.
Webber has a background in board governance, having recently served as chairwoman of audit at Westfield Health and chairwoman of people, remuneration and culture at the Marsden Building Society, alongside a variety of non-executive roles in the non-profit and public sectors.
During her executive career, she was the commercial director at INSYNERGY Investment Management and has worked extensively in corporate finance advisory and private equity. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Stuart Purdy, chairman at British Friendly, said: “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Nicki and Simon to the British Friendly board. Having leaders of their quality join is a strong endorsement of our vision, and the board will greatly benefit from the wealth of experience that they each bring to the society.”
Simon Owens, CEO at British Friendly, added: “Nicki and Simon’s expertise and independent perspective will be invaluable at such a transformative time for the society as we execute our strategic plans and scale our propositions and operational capabilities.”
Webber said: “I’m really excited to join the team at British Friendly. It’s important to me that I work with member-focused organisations, which aim to make a positive difference in people’s lives. Protecting members from financial hardship during periods of illness provides a crucial safeguard”.
Lodge added: “I am very excited to be joining the board of British Friendly, an insurer that is really putting its members’ interests at the heart of everything it does”.
