StepChange appoints new Chief Operating Officer

^{26 June 2024}

StepChange is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Clift as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Martin, who will take up the role at the beginning of September, previously worked at Barclays for 37 years, during which time he specialised in large scale Distribution, Operations Leadership and Strategic Transformation. He was most recently Head of Intermediary Services and Transformation and latterly Business Banking Transformation.

Commenting on the appointment, StepChange CEO Vikki Brownridge, said:

“We’re delighted to welcome Martin to StepChange at a pivotal time for the charity. His wealth of contact centre experience will be crucial to the implementation of our digital transformation projects, in particular our back-office optimisation programme, and the delivery of our 2025-30 strategy.”

Martin Clift added:

“I’m really proud to be joining StepChange and I look forward to contributing to the important work that the charity does, particularly at a time when so many people need support with their finances. It’s an exciting time to be joining the charity and I look forward to lending my expertise to the ongoing transformation to StepChange’s already class-leading operations function.”

Notes to Editors

About Martin Clift

Martin was with Barclays for 37 years and has had a wide and varied career, specialising in large scale Distribution, Operations Leadership and Strategic Transformation and most recently Head of Intermediary Services and Transformation and latterly Business Banking Transformation.

He previously led Retail and Business Lending Operations and was responsible for a global workforce across the UK and India, providing lending origination, servicing and contact centre support. He has created and executed a strategy to transform customer experience through back-office automation and self-service capabilities. Process engineering and a culture of continuous improvement improving customer metrics at the same time as significant reductions in cost base. He has been site president for a strategic Barclays shared service centre and has led a successful cultural transformation, with a turn-around in colleague engagement.

He was previously Head of Home Solutions Direct, successfully transforming the mortgage business performance through a period of significant regulatory change. Martin has extensive contact centre experience and has operated across a number of global locations.