Seccl, the Octopus-owned custodian and platform technology provider, has strengthened its senior team with the addition of a Chief People Officer (CPO) and Chief Customer Officer (CCO) to support its next growth phase.
Kirsty Lynagh, former Chief People Officer at Nucleus, will join Seccl as its CPO to design and execute a high-performance people strategy, aligned with its renewed business plan. Lynagh will join with executive accountability for all aspects of the people and communications functions on Monday 6th June.
Additionally, Farzana Khalil (recently appointed Head of Customer at Seccl) will move into the newly created Chief Customer Officer position. Having previously led proposition development at Multrees, Khalil joined Seccl in April 2022 alongside new CEO, David Ferguson. As CCO, Khalil will have responsibility for delivery across the company’s sales channels and ensuring that customers enjoy best-in-class offline support.
Kirsty Lynagh, incoming CPO at Seccl, shared: “I’m really looking forward to joining the team at Seccl, a company that represents the ideal blend of purpose driven culture, leadership, and technology with the opportunity to deliver something market defining for our people and customers.
“I’m delighted to be working with David again and to get to know the ambitious team behind all the excellent work done to date. I’m particularly committed to deeply understanding what they need to do their best work and to deliver on our big plans.”
Farzana Khalil, newly promoted CCO at Seccl, added: “In the few short months that I have been at Seccl, I have been consistently impressed with the quality of the team and their ‘can-do’ attitude when it comes to building truly digital and affordable products for our customers – and quickly, too.
“Kirsty coming onboard adds to the momentum, and I look forward to working with her and the team more widely to build a business that delivers the best possible outcomes for our people and our customers. I believe Seccl is exceptionally well positioned to support firms and their clients throughout this transitional time in our industry, and I’m excited by the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
David Ferguson, CEO of Seccl, commented: “We have serious ambition here and these appointments represent the first steps in assembling an executive team, alongside myself and Dave Harvey, that can build on the successes to date and propel the business towards its potential.
“I’m extremely pleased to be able to announce these appointments - Farzana has admirably demonstrated her ability to lead our customer team since joining alongside me in April, and she will play a pivotal role in helping us realise our growth ambitions. I also believe great culture creates great companies, and I know from my time working with Kirsty that she will help us cultivate a modern, high-performance culture entirely aligned with our tech-led model. I’m really looking forward to working with her again.”
Lynagh and Khalil join the many new hires Seccl has made since it was acquired by Octopus Group in September 2019 – a period that has seen headcount growth of over 600%, from 13 to 94 employees. The firm recently won the ‘Leading Innovation Award’ at the UK Platform Awards, along with ‘Best Use of Platform Technology’ for its work powering the P1 Platform.