Jayne-Anne Gadhia

Jayne-Anne Gadhia
Born (1961-10-19) 19 October 1961 (age 63)
EducationCulford School
Alma materRoyal Holloway, University of London
Known forCEO of Virgin Money UK

Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, DBE, CVO, FRSE (born 19 October 1961)[1] is a British businesswoman. She is the Founder and Executive Chair of the fintech Snoop. She was the CEO of Virgin Money from 2007 to 2018.

Early life

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Gadhia was born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire (now West Midlands), and educated at Culford School, Bury St Edmunds, followed by Royal Holloway, University of London where she graduated with a BA in History.[2]

Career

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From 1982, Gadhia trained in accountancy with Ernst & Young. After becoming a Chartered Accountant, she spent six years at Norwich Union (now Aviva) before becoming one of the founders of Virgin Direct in 1995. Three years later, she set up the Virgin One account, which was acquired by The Royal Bank of Scotland in 2001. After five years at RBS she returned to Virgin as CEO of Virgin Money in 2007 until its sale in 2018.[3]

Advocacy

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Gadhia is an advocate for gender diversity in business.[4] She has also been open about her experiences of depression, and believes that better work-life balance can improve work performance.[5]

Honours and awards

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In 2018 Gadhia was named Leader of the Year at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards. She was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[6]

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours[7] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours. She was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to the Prince's Foundation.[8]

Personal life

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Gadhia is married with one daughter.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Treanor, Jill (26 May 2011). "Jayne-Anne Gadhia: the woman who wants Virgin tied to a Rock". The Guardian.
  2. ^ "Jayne-Anne Gadhia CBE awarded Honorary Doctorate from Royal Holloway". Royal HollowayUniversity of London. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  3. ^ Jayne-Anne Gadhia profile, Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  4. ^ "The CEO of Virgin Money has demanded greater action to achieve gender equality in business". The Independent. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Virgin Money chief: Dealing with depression made me stronger". BBC News. 18 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Mrs Jayne-Anne Gadhia CBE FRSE - The Royal Society of Edinburgh". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Jayne-Anne Gadhia talks gender equality, diversity & flexible working at the Women in Finance Summit". We Are The City. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  8. ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B4.