Fairer Finance appoints Helene Brichet to its Consumer Advisory Board

Consumer group and ratings agency Fairer Finance has appointed Helene Brichet as the fifth member of its Consumer Advisory Board.

Until recently, Helene was the Chief Financial Officer of Capital One UK.

The Consumer Advisory Board scrutinises Fairer Finance’s work and commentary to ensure the firm never prioritises its commercial interests ahead of its mission to create a fairer financial services market.

The Board is chaired by former Virgin Money and TSB CEO Paul Pester. Its other members are Nest chair Otto Thoresen, former Financial Services Consumer Panel chair Sue Lewis and Financial Inclusion Commissioner Laurie Edmans.

Helene brings more than two decades of senior experience in blue-chip multi-nationals and growth companies in Financial Services.

As UK CFO and Executive Board Member at Capital One, Helene participated in the setup and delivery of the strategic agenda including on growth, digitalisation, corporate culture, governance and improvement of customer outcomes in the UK credit card market.

Prior to this role, Helene was the European CFO at EVO Payments, where she led the Finance function activities to deliver on an ambitious external growth roadmap and an IPO on the NASDAQ in 2018.

She has also held senior positions at Barclays Bank, Visa International and Visa Europe.

Paul Pester, chair of Fairer Finance’s Consumer Advisory Board, said: “Having just completed a successful fund raise, Fairer Finance is growing, and now is the right time to bring on another member to support the work we do on the Consumer Advisory Board.

“Helene brings a wealth of experience and a set of skills that complement those of our existing team.

“Fairer Finance has worked hard to protect its independence and reputation in its early years, and the role of the Consumer Advisory Board will become even more important as it begins a new phase of more rapid growth. We now have an even stronger team to carry out our work.”

James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, said: “I’m excited that Helene has agreed to join our Consumer Advisory Board. Her background in audit will be extremely useful in ensuring the board is thorough in identifying and helping us mitigate any conflicts of interest.

“Our Consumer Advisory Board is a crucial part of our business. There’s a dearth of independent ratings and reviews in financial services. We want to build a business that is recognised as the most reliable and independent source of ratings in the sector – and our independent governance structure is key to being able to give consumers and business confidence in the work that we do.”