The new CEO for the Newcastle Permanent Building Society, Bernadette Inglis, commenced her role on 1 July.

Newcastle Permanent’s Chair, Jeff Eather said Bernadette’s strong customer, community and people focus combined with deep financial services experience and expertise will be a wonderful match with the business.

“We are delighted to welcome Bernadette, with full confidence that she has the perfect skills and experience to lead Newcastle Permanent into the future,” Jeff said.

Previously with Westpac, Bernadette has relocated to the Hunter region and says she is excited to have started the role.

“I am looking forward to getting to know our team, our community, the business and the region. I am a newcomer to Newcastle and am already loving this beautiful city that I now call home,” Bernadette said.

“I am committed to working with the Board and our strong team to deliver on our vision of making Newcastle Permanent Australia’s favourite banking experience It’s a time of change in banking and there are significant challenges ahead.”

“However, I feel privileged to be leading this great institution into its next phase as we address both the external environment and changing needs of our customers,” Bernadette said.

Newcastle Permanent is customer-owned, with a focus to provide market-leading products and services for their customers. During the interim period, Mark Williams was the Acting CEO.

“Mark has done a sterling job as Acting CEO, and has been incredibly supportive in providing background and insights. The Board would like to thank Mark for his dedicated leadership and his assistance in providing a seamless leadership transition as he now returns to the Executive Team as acting Chief Customer Officer,” Jeff said.

“As an important part of our community, we share an enthusiasm and optimism for Newcastle Permanent’s future success. I am confident that Bernadette’s appointment will play a large part in achieving that success,” he added.

IMAGE | Bernadette Inglis appointed CEO of Newcastle Permanent