2 May 2019 07:01
2 May 2019
Morses Club PLC
Retirement of Chief Financial Officer
Morses Club PLC ("Morses Club", or the "Company"), the UK's second largest home collected credit lender, announces that its Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), Andy Thomson, plans to retire from his role as CFO on 1 July 2019. Andy will remain as a Non-executive Director ("NED") on the Board of Morses Club.
Andy was involved in the RCapital acquisition of Morses Club in March 2009, remaining on the Board as a Non-executive Director, with responsibility for financial management. Andy led the finance function during the acquisition and integration of Shopacheck Financial Services in 2014/15 before his appointment to full-time CFO in 2016.
A search for a suitable successor is well advanced and an announcement on the appointment will be made in due course (subject to satisfactory completion of customary checks).
Stephen Karle, Chairman of Morses Club, commented:
"Andy has been instrumental in building Morses Club into the UK's second largest HCC lender and guiding the Company through its successful flotation in 2016. His analytical skills and financial judgement have been invaluable over the past ten years. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Andy for his efforts and look forward to working with him in his capacity as a NED. The Board has conducted a thorough process to identify a suitable successor and is pleased to have attracted a number of quality candidates."
Andy Thomson, Chief Financial Officer of Morses Club, commented:
"It has been a privilege to work with Morses Club over the last ten years and see the transformation of the business into a leading lender in the non-standard finance market. I believe we offer essential products and services to our customers and I am very proud of the overwhelmingly positive feedback we receive from them. I am also proud of the Morses Club team and our culture which has always believed in treating customers fairly and I look forward to working with the Board in my new role."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.
For further information
Morses Club PLC Paul Smith, Chief Executive OfficerAndy Thomson, Chief Financial Officer | Tel: +44 (0) 330 045 0719 |
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)Richard Gray / Fabien Holler / Atholl Tweedie (Corporate Finance) Charles Leigh-Pemberton (Corporate Broking) | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7886 2500 |
finnCapJonny Franklin-Adams / Anthony Adams (Corporate Finance)Tim Redfern / Richard Chambers (Corporate Broking) | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0500 |
CamarcoEd Gascoigne-Pees / Jennifer Renwick / Kimberley Taylor | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3757 4984 |
Notes to Editors
About Morses Club
Morses Club is the second largest UK Home Collected Credit (HCC) lender with 235,000 customers and 2,050 agents across 95 locations throughout the UK.
The Company offers a range of loan products to its customers through its extensive self-employed agent network. The majority of the Company's borrowers are repeat customers and the Company enjoys consistently high customer satisfaction with scores of 97% or above1.
The Company is using technology to broaden its offering and provide new products to ensure customers can access credit with the flexibility they require. In April 2016, its cashless lending product, the Morses Club Card, was introduced, enabling its customers to buy online as well as on the high street. Dot Dot Loans, the Company's first online instalment product, was launched in March 2017.
Morses Club successfully listed on AIM in May 2016.
About the UK non-standard credit market
The UK non-standard credit market, of which UK HCC is a subset, consists of both secured and unsecured lending and is estimated to comprise around 10 million consumers2.
Non-standard credit is the provision of secured and unsecured credit to consumers other than through mainstream lenders. Lenders providing non-standard credit principally lend on an unsecured basis and the market is characterised by high frequency borrowing.
Since February 2014, unsecured personal lending has grown from £161 billion to £216 billion in February 20193.
1 Independent Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by Mustard2 FCA High Cost Credit Review Technical Annex 1: CRA data analysis of UK personal debt - July 20173 Source: Table A5.2, Bank of England Money and Credit Bank stats February 2019
About UK Home Collected Credit
UK HCC is considered to be a specialised segment of the broader UK non-standard credit market. UK HCC loans are typically small, unsecured cash loans delivered directly to customers' homes. Repayments are collected in person during weekly follow-up visits to customers' homes.
UK HCC is considered to be stable and well-established, with approximately 1.6 million2 people using the services of UK HCC lenders.
2 High Cost Credit Review ANNEX 1 - July 2017