Folk2Folk chief Giles Cross resigns
FOLK2FOLK has announced that its chief executive has resigned after less than 18 months in the role.
Giles Cross (pictured) joined the peer-to-peer business lender as chief marketing officer in June 2017 and was promoted to chief executive in January 2018.
Folk2Folk said that he had stepped down “to pursue other opportunities”.
Chairman Tim Sawyer said that the company was “sad to see Giles leave, but respect his decision”.
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Roy Warren, the company’s head of loans, risk and portfolio, has been appointed as interim managing director. Folk2Folk said he has significant experience in running and developing businesses in the financial services sector.
No information was disclosed regarding the process to find Cross’s permanent replacement.
Folk2Folk has had a number of changes at the top in recent years. Former chief executive Jane Dumeresque stepped down in September 2017, which was understood to be due to a clash in growth strategy with other stakeholders.
“I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Giles for his significant contribution to the development of Folk2Folk in its evolution from start-up to scale-up business,” said Sawyer.
“His enthusiasm and brand vision have been instrumental in amplifying the Folk2Folk message and explaining it beyond the simple processing of loans. His creation of ‘The Local Lending Movement’ and ‘Folkonomics’ as brand platforms to explain the value that Folk2Folk brings to businesses seeking finance, investors seeking a great return and the local communities and economies that Folk2Folk operates within, are a lasting legacy for our business.
“We are sad to see Giles leave, but respect his decision. We wish him the very best for his professional and personal future.”
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Cross said that he had really enjoyed his time at Folk2Folk.
“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together and the growth and success of the business so far,” he added. “Folk2Folk is an exciting company with a brilliant team of employees and I look forward to following the company’s future success.”
The Cornwall-headquartered platform grew its loanbook by 38 per cent during 2018 and became the UK’s second-largest P2P business lender in terms of cumulative lending.