Former Bank high-flyer takes the chair at Royal London

Royal London, the life and pensions giant that owns Scottish Life, has recruited a former deputy governor of the Bank of England as its new chairman.

Rupert Pennant-Rea will succeed current chair Tim Melville-Ross, who is due to retire in May.

Phil Loney, group chief executive of Royal London, praised Melville-Ross’s tenure with the group since he joined in 2006.

“Tim has overseen this transformation of Royal London with wisdom, intellect and enthusiasm. He has been a major driving force to get us to the strong position we are in today.”

Pennant-Rea will resign from his current role as non-executive chairman of Jersey-based asset manager Henderson Group, but will retain his chairmanship of publisher, the Economist Group, as well as his non-executive roles at Go-Ahead Group, Gold Fields (South Africa) and Hochschild Mining.

He joins the Royal London board with immediate effect and will become non-executive chairman at the annual general meeting on 28 May.

Pennant-Rea resigned from his high-flying role at the Bank of England in 1995 following a “kiss and tell” publication recounting his affair with financial journalist, Mary Ellen Synon.

Loney said: “I am delighted that Rupert Pennant-Rea has agreed to become our new non-executive chairman. Rupert brings a substantial amount of experience to the board.

“The fact that we have been able to attract Rupert to become the chairman of our board is itself recognition of the progress that we have made and the exciting potential of our business.”

Loney noted that during Melville-Ross’s time at Royal London, funds under management had increased by 68 per cent to £48.7 billion.

Last month, the firm, which employs more than 1,200 people in Scotland, said it was poised to benefit from sweeping industry changes after unveiling flat sales.