Leeds Building Society has announced the permanent appointment of Annette Barnes, currently interim CEO, as the mutual’s chief executive officer.

Leeds said in February that its savings balances grew to £26.1 billion in 2025, with new mortgage lending growth totalling £5 billion (2024: £5.7 billion) — as the mutual reached the milestone of one million members.

The mutual is the UK’s fifth-largest Building Society, with assets of £32 billion. It employs over 1,800 staff, with a head office in the centre of Leeds, a customer contact centre in Newcastle, and a network of 51 branches across the UK.

“Annette’s appointment follows a comprehensive recruitment process, through which the board determined that she is the right candidate to lead the Society on a permanent basis,” said the Leeds.

“Annette is the Society’s first permanent female Chief Executive Officer in its’ 151-year history.

“Prior to being appointed as Interim CEO in June 2025, Annette served as an independent non‑executive board director at the Society from 2019 onwards.

“She has over 35 years’ experience in financial services, holding senior leadership roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Bank of America and mbna, including as CEO of Lloyds Bank Private Banking Ltd. She is also currently a non-executive director at Stratos Markets Limited.

“Annette’s experience in financial services, aligned with her background in customer engagement, people leadership and technology has given her strong commercial and strategic skills, in addition to excellent transformation and change capabilities.

“This level of experience will be essential at the Society continues the journey to replace its core technology platform and invests for the future.”

Leeds Building Society chair Brendan McCafferty said: “I am delighted that Annette has become the permanent CEO of Leeds Building Society. Following a thorough assessment of both internal and external candidates, the board is clear that Annette is the outstanding candidate to continue to lead the Society through this important phase of transformation.

“Annette has provided strong leadership since being appointed as Interim CEO and her commitment to growing the organisation and evolving our services to meet member needs is clear. The board is confident that the Society remains extremely well-placed to continue to deliver its purpose and its strategy.”

Barnes said: “I am honoured to have been permanently appointed as the CEO of Leeds Building Society. Whilst becoming a permanent CEO again was not the plan last year, having worked directly with the board and our wonderful colleagues for the last nine months, I couldn’t have been more pleased to be asked to put myself forward alongside other candidates.

“I am delighted to have been selected by the board at the conclusion of the recruitment process and proud to lead the Society through the next phase of its journey.

“As set out in our recent annual results, our Society is financially strong and moving confidently into the future. I look forward to working with colleagues to continue to support our members and deliver our purpose of putting home ownership within reach of more people, generation after generation.”