The Co-operative Bank has appointed Helen Gallagher as its new HR director. 

Gallagher, who is expected to join in early 2017, will be a member of the bank’s executive committee reporting directly to Liam Coleman who takes over as chief executive in January 2017. 

She is currently the retail HR director at Lloyds Banking Group, and has also held senior HR positions at Santander and Barclays. 

Julie Harding, who has led the bank’s HR strategy for the past three years, will be stepping down, as planned, once Gallagher joins. She started at the bank in January 2014 as a member of its executive team, recruited to help deliver the transformation required in the early years of the bank’s turnaround plan.