Northern Rock takes on Lloyds man as CFO

Jim McConville (intriguing name for a banker) will join Northern Rock as its CFO on 8 April, filling a year-long vacancy at the mortgage lender following the earlier-than-expected departure of interim finance chief, Ann Godbehere, in February 2009.

McConville has been serving as finance director at Lloyds-owned Scottish Widows, both at group level and for its insurance and investment division.

He brings to the Rock managerial experience in group strategy, monitoring and planning across the Lloyds banking group as well as a clutch of other finance roles. Prior to Lloyds, he spent almost a decade with Coopers & Lybrand. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers In Scotland.

McConville joins four months after the bank’s board decided to split it into two halves, one to hold its banking licence, new lending and retail business and the other to house the asset management business containing existing loans intended to be wound down. Both remain in government ownership. It will be for McConville to carefully manage carefully both sides and to be instrumental in preparing the former for a potential sale, in whole or part.

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