New chief financial ombudsman appointed

Natalie Ceeney will join as chief ombudsman in March 2010 from the National Archives, where she is chief executive and Keeper of the Public Records. She was formerly director of operations and services at the British Library - and previously led strategic consultancy projects across a range of industries at McKinsey & Company.

Welcoming the appointment, Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: “Natalie Ceeney takes up the position of chief ombudsman at a turning point for the ombudsman service. Set up ten years ago to deal with 30,000 complaints annually, we are now gearing up for an annual workload of 200,000 cases.

“This takes us to a new and very different stage of the ombudsman service's development. The challenges and demands now facing us are ones that Natalie will be ideally positioned to meet - with her extensive experience in strategic change management and engagement with a range of government departments and stakeholders. She is an outstanding individual and my board and I look forward to working with her.”