Herts Challenger Bank continues to champion gender equality with new appointment

This latest recruit now takes the percentage of women on the Redwood Bank payroll to almost 50 per cent.

Marketing Manager Kirsty MacDonald has just been employed, bringing the total number of women to 37 out of a total of 78 staff members. She was employed in April, alongside Olivia Alligan, who was taken on as a Banking Operations Officer.

In addition, Redwood has promoted Emma Drew to Head of Compliance, who has been with the company since inception in 2017.

Welcoming more women on board is proving Redwood’s commitment to the Women in Finance Charter, which encourages financial services to provide a balanced workforce across all genders.

CEO and Co-Founder of Redwood Bank, Gary Wilkinson, said:

We feel very passionately about committing to the Women in Finance Charter, to ensure we are accelerating gender equality among all our staff.

"We invest a lot of time, research and energy into ensuring our employees are satisfied, challenged and above all else, feel like they are treated fairly.

"According to the most recent Women in Finance report*, banks and insurance firms have , once again, failed to reach 20　per cent executive committee representation. Globally, the percentage of female financial services industry leaders remain at 12 per cent** – a figure that exists despite a sizeable number of organisations claiming to have diversity initiatives.

"With this in mind, we wanted to show how committed we are to achieving fairness, equality and inclusion for men and women at all levels because we believe this will improve culture, behaviour, outcomes, profitability and productivity."

More than 330 firms of all shapes and sizes across financial services have signed up to the commitments of the Charter.

These include global banks, credit unions and large insurance companies with headquarters in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia.

Kirsty, who joined Redwood Bank amid the UK lockdown, brings 14 years’ experience to her new role.

Kirsty MacDonald, Marketing Manager

Her previous employment includes working in London within a range of Marketing and Communications roles, and more recently she was the Group Marketing Manager for a multi-national plc that developed software technology in the digital construction space.

She said: "I wanted to work for Redwood Bank, because the culture and people immediately stood out for me. It truly has a ‘powered by our people’ approach, and this is evident in the culture they have built within the Bank.

"It was also clear to me from early on, that the Bank’s mission to create change and do things differently to support SMEs is at the heart of everything they do. It’s very rewarding to be working for a bank that is driving innovation and challenging the industry."

Redwood Bank was launched in August 2017, becoming Britain’s newest business bank for SMEs. It offers secured SME mortgages for business owners, as well as for experienced commercial and residential property investors.

Despite all staff members adhering to social distancing rules and working from home, Redwood Bank continues to deliver fast and efficient mortgage decisions to help its business customers seize property opportunities and also offers competitive business savings accounts.

For further information, visit www.redwoodbank.co.uk
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Notes to editors

For further details contact Laura Pearce at Strand PR on laura@strand-pr.co.uk or 01763 274674 / 07903 106405.

Redwood Bank was launched in August 2017, becoming Britain’s newest business bank for SMEs and completing its ‘mobilisation’ phase just over four months after securing its initial banking licence in April 2017. Redwood Bank offers secured SME mortgages for business owners, as well as for experienced commercial and residential property investors. It delivers fast and efficient mortgage decisions to help its business customers seize property opportunities and also offers competitive business savings accounts.　Redwood Bank was founded by Jonathan Rowland and Gary Wilkinson. It has a unique private-public ownership structure in which Warrington Borough Council has a one-third stake.

*To read the Women in Financial Services 2020 report, click here.