Bob Bennett, 62, was appointed to the Board in December 2003. He trained as a Chartered Accountant with Spicer & Pegler and was Group Finance Director of Northern Rock plc from 1993 until his retirement at the end of January 2007. He is a non-executive director of Redrow plc and Expro International Group PLC. He is a member of the Nominations and Remuneration Committees; he has been Chairman of the Audit Committee since 2004 and became the Senior Independent Director in 2008.