Evelyn hires ex-Direct Line CEO as new boss

Wealth supervisor Evelyn Companions has appointed former Direct Line chief government Paul Geddes as its new CEO, changing Chris Woodhouse who’s retiring.

The appointment is topic to regulatory approval.

Mr Geddes will be part of the enterprise on 3 July to switch Mr Woodhouse who has spent 5 and a half years on the helm.

Mr Woodhouse oversaw the merger of Tilney and Smith & Williamson to create Evelyn Companions, one of many UK’s greatest wealth managers. Throughout his tenure belongings underneath administration have grown from £23.5bn in 2017 to £54.4bn (as at 31 March). The group additionally contains hybrid and on-line funding agency Bestinvest and has made quite a few acquisitions of Monetary Planning companies.

Mr Geddes will work with Mr Woodhouse throughout a summer season handover interval.

Mr Geddes has labored in enterprise for 33 years, the final 15 in CEO roles. He joins Evelyn Companions from QA Group the place he has been CEO since 2019. QA is a supplier of upper training and workforce studying programmes and companies and is owned by non-public fairness group CVC Capital Companions.

Earlier than QA he spent spent 10 years as CEO of insurance coverage firm Direct Line till 2019. He was beforehand the CEO of the insurance coverage division of the Royal Financial institution of Scotland, which included the Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege, Inexperienced Flag and NIG manufacturers and was accountable for splitting the division off from the financial institution and main the profitable IPO of Direct Line Group in 2012. Whereas at Direct Line, he was a member of the FCA Practitioner Panel and Deputy Chair of the Affiliation of British Insurers.

He started his monetary companies profession with RBS in 2004, ultimately turning into CEO of the retail financial institution within the UK mainland, together with NatWest, and a member of the RBS Group Govt Committee, after which CEO of the Insurance coverage Division. Earlier than becoming a member of RBS, he held quite a lot of advertising and marketing roles with retail manufacturers and is an Oxford graduate.

Chris Grigg, chair of Evelyn Companions, stated: “We’re delighted that Paul is becoming a member of Evelyn Companions as our new chief government officer. He’s a extremely achieved enterprise chief who brings a wealth of expertise in monetary companies, a file of embracing technological innovation, a depth of expertise in advertising and marketing and growing expertise.

“He joins the enterprise at a really thrilling time with nice alternatives forward. In recent times, the enterprise has accomplished a serious integration, efficiently rebranded, developed an unrivalled vary of companies, invested closely in digital transformation and it has additionally delivered constant, robust natural progress. Paul joins an ideal workforce, and I want to pay tribute to Chris for the massive contribution he has made to the success of the enterprise over the past 5 and half years.”  

Mr Geddes stated: “I’m extraordinarily excited to be becoming a member of Evelyn Companions to guide the following stage of its journey, constructing on the terrific work that everybody within the enterprise has achieved underneath Chris’s management since 2017. It’s already clear to me that Evelyn Companions is a gaggle with a proud previous, however targeted on the long run, made up of excellent professionals who ship wonderful outcomes in a number of disciplines to a various vary of purchasers.  I’m relishing the chance to fulfill as many colleagues as attainable throughout the group in my first few months as we work collectively on the following stage of our progress technique.”

Mr Woodhouse stated: “It has been an actual privilege to have labored with such a gifted workforce of individuals over these final 5 and a half years. Collectively we’ve got achieved an enormous quantity by way of the strategic transformation and progress of the enterprise. It is a testomony to the laborious work and dedication of our distinctive folks and our tradition of placing purchasers on the centre of all the things we do.

“I’m assured that Evelyn Companions will proceed to go from energy to energy within the years forward. I go away Evelyn Companions in good arms and need Paul and everybody on the group each success as they take the enterprise on to the following stage of its growth.”