Wesleyan, the specialist financial services provider, has appointed Mario Mazzocchi as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Mario previously spent 15 years with Lloyds Banking Group, most recently as COO for the Insurance and Wealth division. He worked in a number of functions within the Group including Marketing, Change, Strategy, Operations, Sales and across retail, corporate banking and insurance.

Mario was a Board Member of the Association of British Insurers in his role at Lloyds.

As Wesleyan COO, Mario will play a key role in delivering Wesleyan’s strategic growth plans leading teams responsible for Technology and Transformation, Life and Pensions, Practice Plan and Wesleyan Bank.

This will be a Group Executive role reporting into the Group Chief Executive.

Wesleyan Group Chief Executive Craig Errington said:

“Mario joins us at a very exciting time as we move into a new phase of our strategic planning process. We have a clear idea of what we have to do to make sure Wesleyan remains successful and continues to meet our customers changing needs in the years ahead. Mario’s skills and experience will be invaluable in helping us to deliver these plans.”

Mario added:

“Wesleyan has a fantastic reputation among its professional customers and is also one of the financially strongest companies in the industry. These two factors alone mean that there’s huge potential to grow the company further in our specialist customer segments.

“Our mutual business model is also a differentiating factor. I’m pleased to join an organisation committed to driving value for its members while visibly demonstrating its ethos of care for customers and staff.”

Wesleyan provides specialist financial advice and solutions to doctors, dentists, lawyers and teachers.