Equals announced that John Pearson will stand down as Non-Executive Chairman following the Group's Annual General Meeting. John will remain on the Board as Non-Executive Director. He is being replaced by Alan Hughes, who was appointed as Non-Executive Director on 26 February 2020 as part of Group's succession plans, and is standing for re-election. Alan is a highly experienced director with particular expertise working with fast-growth banks and fintech businesses. He was formerly Chief Executive of challenger bank First Direct, which grew four-fold under his stewardship and was consistently ranked highest amongst its peers in terms of customer satisfaction. Alan's previous Board roles include Non-Executive Director of New Day Group, and Chairman of Retail Money Market Limited. Until 2004, Alan was an Executive Board member and General Manager at HSBC Bank plc. Alan is currently Non-Executive Chairman of Unity Trust Bank plc, an independent bank with a focus on social benefit, as well as Senior Independent Director and Deputy Chair of Hitachi Capital (UK) plc.