Charlie Nunn

Charlie Nunn
Nationality	British
Education	University of Cambridge (BA, economics); INSEAD (master's degree)
Occupation	Banker; former management consultant
Company	Lloyds Banking Group
Title	Group Chief Executive

Charles Alan "Charlie" Nunn (born September 1971) is a British banker and former management consultant who has been group chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, one of the United Kingdom's largest financial services companies, since 16 August 2021. Nunn spent twelve years at Accenture and five years as a partner at McKinsey & Company before joining HSBC in 2011, where he rose to chief executive of the bank's Wealth and Personal Banking division.

Nunn's appointment at Lloyds was announced in December 2020, and he took up the post in August 2021, succeeding António Horta-Osório, who had led the group for a decade. As of the group's most recent published results, for the first half of 2026, Nunn remained in the role, with the group reporting a rise in statutory profit and the completion of a share buyback programme in the weeks before this article was written.

Under Nunn, Lloyds has pursued a strategy built around digital transformation and artificial intelligence, has closed branches and cut costs while its reported profit has fluctuated, and has faced a substantial industry-wide liability tied to the mis-selling of motor finance commissions. Nunn's pay has risen sharply across his tenure, drawing attention for coinciding with branch closures and job losses.

Early life and education

Nunn took a bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Cambridge. He subsequently completed a master's degree at the INSEAD business school in France.

Career

Accenture, 1994 to 2006

Nunn worked at the consulting and professional services firm Accenture for twelve years, with postings in the United States, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. A career summary compiled from public records places his time at the firm between 1994 and September 2006.

McKinsey & Company, 2006 to 2011

Nunn joined the management consultancy McKinsey & Company in 2006 and worked there for five years, rising to the rank of senior partner before he left in 2011.

HSBC, 2011 to 2021

Nunn joined HSBC in 2011 and moved through a series of senior roles at the bank over the following decade. In February 2020 Nunn was promoted to chief executive of HSBC's Wealth and Personal Banking division, a role he held until his departure was agreed in early 2021 to allow him to join Lloyds. During this period he also served as a director of HSBC Global Asset Management Limited, a position to which he was appointed in December 2018 and from which he resigned in December 2020 as his move to Lloyds was arranged.

Lloyds Banking Group, 2021 to present

The company announced on 14 December 2020 that Nunn would become group chief executive, succeeding António Horta-Osório. On taking up the post, Nunn said he felt "particularly lucky to be joining Lloyds Banking Group at this important time" and spoke of the company's potential to "define the future of exceptional customer service in UK financial services." Nunn formally became chief executive on 16 August 2021, the same day he was appointed a director of Lloyds Banking Group plc and of three of its principal subsidiaries, Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc and HBOS plc. All four directorships remained active as of September 2026.

In the group's results for the first half of 2026, published on 30 July 2026, Nunn set out a new corporate strategy called "Accelerate 2030," which he said the group was "well placed to launch...from a position of strength," built around reimagined customer experiences, enhanced connectivity and technology-enabled productivity improvements.

Leadership and management style

Nunn has described artificial intelligence as the third major technological shift he has worked through in financial services, after the earlier waves of computing and broadband and then internet and mobile banking. Under Nunn's leadership, the bank has said it operates roughly 800 artificial intelligence models, with at least half of them aimed at improving customer outcomes and supporting growth, and the group has hired close to 10,000 data and technology staff as part of an effort to reskill its wider workforce of around 65,000 employees; a self-service artificial intelligence training tool reportedly reached roughly 80 per cent employee engagement within months of its launch. Nunn has framed the scale of the group's customer base, which he has said includes around one in four UK residents and around one in five UK businesses and generates approximately seven billion digital log-ins a year, as the basis for that technology strategy. In a profile published in September 2026, Nunn attributed part of his approach to leadership to his grandmother and mother, saying he had adopted his grandmother's view that "it is the optimist who gets things done," and he has said he looks for organisational cultures built on curiosity, experimentation, learning and accountability.

Major deals and strategic decisions

Lloyds has reduced its branch network under Nunn's tenure; in the results covering the 2024 financial year, the group set out plans for a further 136 branch closures along with the closure of offices in Dunfermline and Liverpool, alongside greater use of automation to reduce costs.

In its 2026 half-year results, Lloyds announced an interim ordinary dividend of 1.58 pence per share, an increase of 30 per cent year on year, alongside a further £1.0 billion share buyback programme, which the board said reflected confidence in the group's capital position. That programme, the second half of a wider capital return, was completed on 25 September 2026 at a total value of £1.75 billion. The "Accelerate 2030" strategy announced alongside the half-year results was described by Nunn as intended to unlock growth through reimagined customer experiences and technology-enabled productivity.

Financial and market performance

In the results for the 2024 financial year, Lloyds reported that annual profit had fallen by 20 per cent to £6 billion, missing analysts' expectations, a year in which the group also disclosed a £700 million provision for motor finance compensation claims and a £1 billion provision relating to a dispute with HM Revenue and Customs.

Performance improved by the middle of 2026: for the first half of that year, Lloyds reported statutory profit before tax of £4.3 billion, up 23 per cent on the same period a year earlier, underlying profit of £4.2 billion, up 18 per cent, net income of £9.7 billion, up 9 per cent, and a return on tangible equity of 17.1 per cent. Commenting on the results, Nunn said: "Lloyds Banking Group continues to deliver for customers, colleagues, communities and shareholders. Our purpose of Helping Britain Prosper has never been more important."

Nunn's own remuneration has risen substantially across his tenure as chief executive. For the 2023 financial year his total pay was reported at £3.7 million, rising to £5.6 million for 2024, made up of a base salary of just under £2.5 million, an annual bonus of £1.1 million reflecting the achievement of 68.1 per cent of performance targets, and the first instalment of a long-term share award worth £2 million. Separately, coverage of the group's 2025 pay disclosures put his total remuneration for that year at £7.4 million, a rise of 20 per cent on the prior year's figure as reported in that account. In February 2026, Lloyds set out a new executive pay policy that would raise the maximum annual bonus opportunity from 140 per cent to 300 per cent of salary and the maximum long-term incentive award from 300 per cent to 500 per cent of salary, while reducing fixed pay by around 44 per cent; the company said the changes were intended to align pay more closely with the group's financial performance. Under the new policy, Nunn's total pay for 2026 could reach £13.9 million if he met his performance targets, or up to £17.7 million in a scenario in which the group's share price rose by 50 per cent.

Board memberships and outside roles

Nunn's directorships on public record are concentrated within the group: he has been a director of Lloyds Banking Group plc, Lloyds Bank plc, Bank of Scotland plc and HBOS plc since 16 August 2021. Earlier in his career, while at HSBC, he served as a director of HSBC Global Asset Management Limited from December 2018 to December 2020.

Controversies

Lloyds' 2024 results, in which the group awarded Nunn a bonus and long-term incentive payments, were published in the same announcement as plans for 136 further branch closures, office closures in Dunfermline and Liverpool, a 20 per cent fall in annual profit, and provisions of £700 million for motor finance mis-selling claims and £1 billion relating to a dispute with HM Revenue and Customs, a juxtaposition that drew press attention to the contrast between rising executive pay and cost-cutting elsewhere in the business.

Lloyds is one of several UK motor finance lenders exposed to the Financial Conduct Authority's redress scheme for discretionary commission arrangements, under which lenders that failed to properly disclose commission arrangements with car dealers between April 2007 and November 2024 may be required to compensate borrowers. The FCA has estimated that eligible customers will receive an average of around £830 per agreement, across an estimated 12.1 million eligible agreements industry-wide, though parts of the scheme have been subject to legal challenge, with a court case expected in late 2026 or early 2027, and lenders are not required to calculate or pay compensation until that process concludes. Lloyds disclosed a provision against motor finance claims in its 2024 results.

See also

• Lloyds Banking Group
• António Horta-Osório
• HSBC
• McKinsey & Company

External links

• Official website