Zopa, the peer-to-peer lending company, has appointed a former Virgin chief executive to the role of chairman, as it prepares to launch a new banking service in the UK.

Gordon McCallum, a former chief executive of Virgin’s UK management company, will take over as non-executive chairman from Giles Andrews, who co-founded Zopa.

McCallum was responsible for building the Virgin UK management group’s strategy from the mid-1990’s until 2012, with particular focus on Virgin Money and Virgin Media/Virgin Mobile.

He is currently a senior advisor to private equity firm Searchlight Capital, chairman of Hunter Boots, and a non-executive director of a number of companies, including Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Zopa secured a limited banking licence in December, making it the world’s first combined peer-to-peer lender and digital bank, paving the way for the launch of a new selection of personal finance products.

After 15 years at Zopa, Andrews will step back from his group chairman role to focus more time on his role as chairman at other FinTech businesses, including Market Invoice, Kreditech and Dynamic Credit. He will continue to sit on the Zopa group board.

He commented: “Having helped Zopa grow into a profitable, sustainable, and successful business, the time is right to pass on the baton to an independent chair.”

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