Unity Trust Bank appoints first female board chair

Unity Trust Bank has appointed Christine Coe as the first female chair of its board of directors, as Alan Hughes ends his term after 10 years in post.

Christine joined Unity’s Board as an independent non-executive director in 2023. She chairs the Board Risk Committee and is a member of the Nomination Committee and Board Audit Committee.

With over 40 years’ global credit and risk experience, which she gained through a variety of senior roles at HSBC, Christine brings a wealth of expertise in commercial banking, financial policy and regulation.

Christine takes over from Alan Hughes, who was instrumental in facilitating Unity’s independence from the Co-op Bank in 2015.

He chaired the Nomination Committee and was a member of the Remuneration Committee.

Christine (pictured) said: “On behalf of the Board, I’d like to thank Alan for his dedicated service. His financial acumen, breadth of experience, and his strong belief in innovation for the public good has played a pivotal role in Unity’s success over the past decade.

“I’m delighted to be appointed Chair and I look forward to supporting the bank’s future innovations and ambition. Unity has a strong commitment to social purpose and by upholding our values-led approach, we can help to deliver positive change in communities across the UK.”

Unity has also appointed Paul Nowak as president of the bank. Paul is General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents 48 trade unions and 5.3million working people. Paul joined the TUC in 2000 and held a number of regional and national roles before his appointment as General Secretary in 2022.

The appointments follow the publication of Unity’s 2024 results, which reported record customer balances of £1.7 billion (up 10 per cent from 2023) and more than half (50.5 per cent) of lending committed to areas of high deprivation (2023: 45.3 per cent).

Unity was founded by the trade union movement in 1984 to serve the common good. It assesses every loan proposal against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and the social benefit it will create, to ensure the bank’s funding has demonstrable impact.

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