Nottingham Building Society has announced the appointment of Russ Thornton as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO), effective immediately. Thornton, who has been serving in an interim advisory capacity since March 2025, now officially joins the mutual’s executive leadership team in a permanent capacity. His appointment is a key milestone in the Society’s ongoing digital transformation journey and broader strategic focus on technology-led growth.
Russ Thornton brings with him over two decades of experience in driving large-scale digital innovation, IT leadership, and transformative change across the financial services sector. Prior to joining Nottingham Building Society, he led a significant digital overhaul at Shawbrook Bank, where he successfully implemented cloud-native and automation-first platforms. These included the deployment of nCino’s banking cloud for loan origination and portfolio management, Pegasystems for intelligent underwriting automation, and Cashflows for optimized business finance payment processing.
His previous leadership roles include serving as Chief Technology Officer at Cofunds, McKinney Rogers, and fintech platform WorldRemit. Throughout his career, Thornton has built a reputation for modernizing legacy systems, scaling digital capabilities, and fostering technology teams that support strategic business objectives.
Thornton succeeds Paul Howley, who made history by becoming Nottingham Building Society’s first Chief Technology and Transformation Officer in 2022. During his three-year tenure, Howley played a pivotal role in launching a number of high-impact technology initiatives, including partnerships with Nova Credit to introduce the cross-border credit solution Credit Passport, and with MQube to integrate the innovative Origo mortgage origination platform. Under his leadership, the Society strengthened its digital foundation to support long-term innovation and enhance member experiences.
Commenting on the appointment, senior leadership at Nottingham Building Society emphasized that Thornton’s strategic vision, combined with his proven technical acumen, will be instrumental in shaping the next phase of the Society’s technological evolution.
The leadership transition comes at a time of continued growth and investment for the 176-year-old mutual institution. In addition to appointing a new CTO, Nottingham Building Society is further bolstering its executive bench with the upcoming arrival of Aaron Shinwell, a seasoned banking leader from Santander UK, who will take on the role of Chief Loan Officer starting August 2025.
Together, these appointments underscore the Society’s commitment to building a robust, forward-looking leadership team that can accelerate digital transformation while staying true to the mutual’s member-first values.
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