Morses Club appoints new chief financial officer

Mr Campbell has joined the Batley-based firm on October 12, subject to regulatory approval. He will also be appointed as an executive director on the Morses Club board.

Andy Thomson, who is currently interim chief financial officer, will remain in an executive capacity until the publication of the company’s annual results to ensure a smooth transition and regulatory handover. After that, Mr Thomson will re-assume his role as a non-executive director on the board.

Mr Campbell was most recently chief financial officer of BrightHouse, which provided rent-to-own and cash lending services to the UK consumer market.

He became the chief financial officer of BrightHouse in 2018. He joined the company in 2011 and has held a number of roles including director of finance as well as the strategy and digital director, and chief information officer, during which he spearheaded the financial, IT and emerging digital strategy of the business.

Prior to this, he held roles at Virgin Media and Thresher Group.

Paul Smith, chief executive of Morses Club, said: “I am delighted to welcome Graeme to Morses Club.

"Graeme brings a wealth of highly relevant sector and financial experience, along with broader digital and commercial skills, which will be invaluable to Morses Club as we look to grow the business over the coming years.

"I look forward to working with him as the company continues to consolidate its position as a leading non-standard finance provider."

Mr Smith thanked Mr Thomson for his tenure as interim chief financial officer.

"Andy’s hard work and dedication has helped the company navigate a challenging market and establish Morses Club’s current platform for growth in the wider non-standard financial services sector," he added.

"We look forward to continuing to draw on Andy’s experience in his position as a non-executive director of the company.”

Analyst Gary Greenwood at Shore Capital said: "Graeme joins the group at an interesting and somewhat challenging time, being in the middle of the Covid crisis.

"However, despite potential for further near-term economic disruption caused by further local lockdowns, we think the medium-to-long term prospects for non-standard lenders, such as Morses Club, remain attractive.

"Not least because we expect the addressable market (currently some 10-12 million adults in the UK) to expand as mainstream banks become more cautious, more people have credit history problems and smaller, less well-capitalised, operators perhaps struggle to cope and fall by the wayside."