Penny James

Date of appointment to the Board

1 February 2024

Board Committees

Member of the Audit Committee
Member of the Nomination Committee

Other current appointments

Penny is Senior Independent Director of Hargreaves Lansdown plc, as well as a member of its Risk Committee and Nomination and Governance Committee. Penny is also a Non-Executive Director of QBE Insurance Group Limited and Co-Chair of the FTSE Women Leaders Review.

Past roles

Penny was Chief Financial Officer and later Chief Executive Officer of Direct Line Insurance Group plc to January 2023, having joined its Board in November 2017. Prior to this she was Director of Group Finance at Prudential plc, followed by the Group Chief Risk Officer role. She had previously been Group Chief Financial Officer at Omega Insurance Holdings Limited and Chief Financial Officer of UK General Insurance at Zurich Financial Services Ltd. Penny was a Non-Executive Director of Admiral Group plc from 2015 to 2017. She was Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Practitioner Panel from March 2022 to January 2023 and a Board member of the Association of British Insurers.

Skills and experience

• Extensive financial services experience with strong leadership and risk expertise
• Strategic mindset and experience in business transformation
• Chartered accountant, with a degree in Statistics from University of Bath