The experts in foreign exchange About us What we offer Clients Sectors Corporate social responsibility Contact us Home > About us > Our people Our people Meet our CEO and executive management team. Gary Fitton, Chief Executive Officer Gary was appointed CEO in August 2017, having previously served as both Managing Director and Retail Director. During his 25+ year career, Gary has held a number of senior marketing and management roles in the UK cards industry. He headed up the cards business at Egg plc during its key period of growth and innovation. Past employers also include the Lombard Group, People’s Bank, Post Office Financial Services and Bank of Ireland. Gary has also served on a number of VISA/Mastercard boards and committees. Andrew Hardie, Chief Financial Officer Andrew joined First Rate in 2007. He is also the Managing Director of Bank of Ireland First Currency Services, the wholesale division of the company. Andrew has significant cross-sector experience, including retail, financial services, FMCG and business services. Prior to joining First Rate, he worked for Citibank for a number of years, holding senior management positions in both Retail and International Banking. Sharon Cross, Director, Information Technology and Operations Sharon joined us in December 2016 to lead the IT function as we continue to develop and expand our digital offering. Since October 2017, she has also been responsible for our back office and supply operations. Prior to joining First Rate, Sharon was CIO for Santander Consumer Finance UK as well as holding a number of senior roles in IT within a variety of organisations, mainly in the Financial Services sector. Sharon holds a BSc in Software Engineering from the University of Birmingham. Matthew Starks, Director, Human Resources & Facilities Management Matthew joined First Rate in September 2012, having spent the majority of his career as an HR professional in the financial services industry. For the previous five years, Matthew worked for the Post Office in a variety of HR roles, both specialist and generalist, including HR Director for the Post Office immediately before moving to First Rate. Prior to that, Matthew worked for Prudential, which in later years included Egg. The majority of this time was spent in Head of HR and Director roles in life and pensions, general insurance and banking. At Prudential, Matthew was also Learning and Development Director, with the company’s off-shore operation in Mumbai, India included in this remit. Tim Dinneen, Director, Risk & Strategy Tim is responsible for our Risk and Compliance function and for developing the strategic direction of the business. Prior to that, he was with Post Office Financial Services, where he helped set up the Joint Venture between Post Office & Bank of Ireland. From then until 2012, Tim held a number of director roles including Operations & IT, Strategy, Business Development, Risk and Compliance. Previously, he worked in Bank of Ireland Group functions, including the set up and running of Bank of Ireland’s call centres and internet operations, Banking 365. Tim holds a Bachelor of Financial Services degree and MBA from University College Dublin. Michael Gibbon, Director, Products & Services Michael joined First Rate in 2009 and has overall accountability for Corporate Clients, Products (Travel Money and Prepaid), Customer Service, and Financial Crime & Payments. Michael has significant experience across multiple markets, including financial services, payments, remittance and the consumer goods sector. During his career he has held a number of senior marketing and management roles, both in the UK and internationally. Prior to joining First Rate, he spent six years with MoneyGram where he was initially responsible for marketing across Africa and latterly headed up marketing for the UK and Ireland. Matt Garrood, Director, Commercial Matt was appointed as Commercial Director in 2019 and leads the Commercial, Sales and Marketing function for First Rate. Prior to joining us, Matt held several senior leadership positions for EE, Diageo and Virgin Atlantic. He therefore brings significant experience in Commercial, Revenue Management, Strategy and Digital Transformation from the Travel, FMCG, Retail, Digital and Ecommerce sectors. Matt is the P&L owner and is responsible for delivering sales and revenue targets. He holds an Undergraduate Degree in Computer Science, a Masters in Communication and an MBA from Henley Business School. About us History Our people Work with us What we offer Foreign currency Prepaid travel money cards Insight Clients Sectors Banking Retail Travel agents Airports and ports Corporate social responsibility Our charity partner Contact us Cookie policy Privacy Notice Modern slavery statement Armed forces covenant © 2021 First Rate Exchange Services Ltd. First Rate Exchange Services Limited ‘First Rate’ is a Bank of Ireland/Post Office joint venture company registered in England and Wales. Company Registration number: 04287490. Registered Office: Great West House, Great West Road, Brentford, TW8 9DF. First Rate operates as a Money Service Business ‘MSB’ under supervision of HMRC (MSB licence number: MLR-64068) and is also an Authorised Electronic Money Institution (Reference number: 900412) which is regulated by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). For the purposes of Data Protection, First Rate is registered as a ‘Data Controller’ with the Information Commissioners Office. Data Controller number: Z6622513.