Nottingham Building Society, the mortgages and savings mutual, has appointed Riaan Thiart as its new permanent chief internal audit officer.
Riaan initially joined the 176-year-old mutual in March 2025 as a strategic advisor in an interim capacity following Sally Gaudion’s move into the chief customer officer role. In his position, he is responsible for providing independent assurance to the board and executive team, ensuring a robust third line of defence on matters of corporate governance, risk management and internal control.
With over 28 years’ experience, Riaan has successfully led multi-national internal audit functions and implemented effective governance frameworks across complex financial services organisations. His career includes senior roles at Nationwide Building Society and Old Mutual PLC, as well as serving as managing director of Prelude Business Solutions Ltd, an advisory business focusing on assurance, programme management and process improvement.
A certified internal auditor and Prince II practitioner, he has also previously acted as interim group internal audit director at Old Mutual, chief internal auditor for the Skandia Group across the Nordics, Europe and Latin America, and acting chief internal auditor for the Nedbank Group, one of South Africa’s largest banks.
Sue Hayes, CEO at Nottingham Building Society, said: “Riaan has already made a significant impact during his interim role, providing valuable insight and assurance at a time of change for our Society. His depth of international experience, combined with his pragmatic and commercial approach, will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our governance and risk frameworks. I’m delighted to welcome him permanently to the leadership team.”
Riaan Thiart added: “I am proud to be joining Nottingham Building Society on a permanent basis. The Society has a strong purpose-led culture and a clear ambition for the future, and I look forward to working with colleagues, the Executive and the Board to ensure our internal audit function continues to add value, provide assurance and support the Society in delivering for its members.”
