Management Team

Gail was appointed in January 2024 to lead the delivery of the next phase of Bank of Ireland’s UK strategy.

She joined Bank of Ireland from Tesco Bank where she served as Chief Banking Officer, prior to which she held senior management positions in Barclays (UK) including, Managing Director, Unsecured Lending and Managing Director, Premier Banking. Gail also previously held leadership roles in Santander (UK), and American Express.

Gail is a graduate of the University of Warwick (BSc Management Science).

Lauren was appointed Interim Chief Risk Officer in February 2024.  Lauren joined Bank of Ireland in 2012 with previous roles including Head of Prudential Risk, Head of Risk, UK Transformation and most recently Head of Business, Strategic and Environmental, Social and Governance risk.

Lauren has more than two decades of risk, audit and advisory experience in financial services.

Lauren previously held roles in PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ireland and the US, is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and holds a Master of Science in Investment, Treasury and Banking.

Tom was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Bank of Ireland (UK) plc in October 2022.

Tom has extensive experience in finance as well as strategy development and execution, across a broad range of industries including Financial Services, Retail, FMCG and Media.

With over nine years’ experience in the Bank of Ireland Group, Tom has held a number of senior management roles within Finance.

Tom is also a Director of a number of Bank of Ireland Group subsidiaries, including NIIB Group Limited.

Tom previously held senior finance roles in Tesco Ireland Limited and Sony Music Entertainment Limited. Prior to that, he held roles at Communicorp Group Limited; Tedcastles Oil Products; and KPMG.

Louise joined Bank of Ireland in February 2017 and was appointed to the role of UK HR Director in May 2018. Before joining Bank of Ireland, Louise worked at Standard Chartered Bank as the HRD for Europe and prior to that was a Leadership Consultant at the Gallup Organization, where she was responsible for embedding a strengths based culture through selection and development interventions in FTSE 100 companies.

Louise also holds a Board Directorship and has served on the City HR Board since May 2014.

Qualifications: BSc in Psychology & Criminology from Middlesex University; Certified Strengths CoachTM and KFLA Accredited.

Ali was appointed Chief Operating Officer for Bank of Ireland UK in June 2023, joining from John Lewis Financial Services where she held the position of Director of Credit and Banking.

Ali brings extensive consumer financial services experience across retail banking, credit cards, lending, fraud and product management, developed through her time at Lloyds TSB, Morgan Stanley and Barclays, where she held senior leadership positions including Chief Operating Officer for UK Cards and Global Head of Fraud Operations.

George was appointed Managing Director NI and U.K. Strategic Partnerships in June 2023, leading the team that supports customers across the Bank’s consumer and business banking, mortgage and partnership services.

George previously held senior management positions in Bank of Ireland UK including Managing Director for Homebuying & Ownership.  George is also Chair of Northridge Finance, Bank of Ireland UK’s motor finance subsidiary.

With more than 30 years of financial services experience, with particular expertise in the UK Mortgage Market, George has held roles at both Board and CEO level both in the mortgage and wealth intermediary markets and within the banking sector.

This includes a number of senior roles across Sesame Bankhall Group and Zurich Financial Services.  George was also CEO of Alpha Beta Partners and a founding member of Intrinsic Financial Services.

Ciara joined Bank of Ireland in January 2017 and was appointed to the role of Chief Data and Digital Officer in April 2021. Prior to this appointment, Ciara held a number of senior management positions across Bank of Ireland including in operations, UK risk, partnerships, strategy and CEO office.

Ciara has over 17 years’ experience in the UK and Ireland financial services sector, during which time she has worked for Deloitte, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and Citi.

Qualifications: Bachelor of Business Studies and Master of Business Studies in Strategic Management and Planning.

Sinéad was appointed UK General Counsel for Bank of Ireland in January 2017 having held other management positions with Group Legal Services since joining the Bank in 2003. Prior to joining the Bank, Sinéad was a solicitor and latterly a Partner in private practice with London City firm, Harris, Rosenblatt and Kramer, subsequently known as Salans LLP (now Dentons), where she handled dispute resolution and the assessment of risk in banking, property and professional negligence matters as well as fraud, insolvency and multi-party claims.

Since 2009 and external to her role with the Bank, Sinéad has been on the Advisory Committee of the Irish Youth Foundation UK, a charitable trust dedicated to supporting vulnerable Irish youth living in disadvantaged circumstances across the UK.

Qualifications: University of Buckingham LLB (Hons) and College of Law, London, Solicitors’ Finals Examination.

Ekaterina joined Bank of Ireland UK in September 2023 as Company Secretary and a member of the UK Executive Committee. Ekaterina is an accomplished, passionate and commercially minded professional, who has been legally trained and has significant experience in corporate governance and company secretariat. Ekaterina combines an extensive technical skill set with the ability to act as a trusted adviser to the Board and the wider business on a broad range of governance, corporate and company secretarial matters.

Prior to joining Bank of Ireland UK, Ekaterina held corporate governance roles at QBE European Operations, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UK and other listed and professional services companies.

Ekaterina is a member of The Chartered Governance Institute.

Andrew was appointed Head of Internal Audit, UK in 2023. Prior to joining Bank of Ireland Group Internal Audit in 2020, Andrew held senior roles in Barclays Bank Plc and led strategic transformation initiatives. Since leaving Barclays in 2017, Andrew carried out a number of EQA reviews for Grant Thornton clients, ranging from small building societies to large international banks. Prior to Barclays, Andrew worked for American Express and JP Morgan in Finance, Financial Operations and Audit roles both in the UK and overseas. Andrew is a fellow of the ICAEW and Institute of Internal Auditors.

Prasad was appointed Interim Director of Savings and Lending in December 2023. Prasad joined Bank of Ireland in 2019 and was most recently Head of Savings. Prasad has over 25 years financial services experience and is an established member of the UK Senior Leadership Team. He has worked across a wide range of products and functions in Barclays, Santander and Citigroup prior to joining Bank of Ireland.

Prasad grew up in India, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and master’s diploma in Management.

Having started his professional career in branch banking for NatWest, Spencer has spent the majority of his 30-year career working in the motor industry, for both independent and manufacturer finance companies.

Appointed in January 2024, Spencer joined Bank of Ireland from BMW Group, where over 17 years he held a number of senior roles, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer of Alphabet where he brought his customer focus and entrepreneurial nature to the BMW Group fleet and leasing customers.