Name: Chris Pilling
Was: Marketing and customer service director for Asda
Now: CEO for Yorkshire Building Society

Career background: Educated at Cambridge University, Pilling started his career as a graduate trainee with Procter & Gamble where he managed the Daz, Vidal Sassoon and Ariel brands. He was group brand manager at Kraft Foods for a year before spending eight years at British Airways and in telecoms. He joined Asda in 2002 as marketing and customer service director and signed up X-Factor judge Sharon Osbourne to be the face of Asda. After four years “he felt it was time for a change” and resurfaced at telephone banking pioneer First Direct as CEO.

What is he doing now? He joined First Direct in 2006, then moved to HSBC in 2008 to head up its telephone banking systems before becoming head of customer services in 2011. He stayed in the job for eight months before taking up the role as CEO of privately-owned Yorkshire Building Society.

How do you think Asda is performing nowadays?“Asda is clearly on the up again,” he says. “Having lost its way a bit, it is now getting back to basics with EDLP, its excellent Happy to Help service and a much-improved food range in fresh and ready meals. That is building momentum. George still needs attention judging by my daughters’ buying habits - Primark is comfortably winning the fashion and value battle!”

How does working in banking compare with grocery?“There are more long-term relationships in banking. At First Direct and at the Yorkshire Building Society it’s all about knowing your customers and providing a fantastic service on some complex and important matters that develop a relationship for a lifetime. In a supermarket you might be on a database but no-one will know who you are, it’s a different thing altogether.”

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