ASHRAF Piranie has been appointed group finance director at Skipton Building Society.

He will join Skipton in March from Nottingham Building Society,which he joined in 2007 and where he is finance director and deputy chief executive.

A qualified accountant, he worked at Alliance & Leicester, between 1989 and 2005, latterly as director of finance. From 2005 to 2007 he was joint managing director and finance director of the start-up Islamic Bank of Britain.

He has more than 20 years experience in financial services, including extensive involvement in areas such as new product development, distribution strategy, treasury, compliance, risk management, estate agency and mergers and acquisitions. He is also a member of the PRA Practitioners Panel.

David Cutter, Skipton’s group chief executive, said: “I look forward to welcoming Ashraf on board. He joins the Skipton Building Society at a very exciting time, as we are fast becoming the go-to destination on the high street for people seeking expert help on their retirement plans.

“Ashraf brings with him a wealth of retail banking experience and I am sure he will make a solid contribution to Skipton as we continue to meet our customers’ needs strengthen our financial position and grow our business.”