Zilch is excited to announce the appointment of Florence Quirici as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. Florence joins Zilch’s executive leadership team and will lead the company’s Public Affairs function alongside its Communications team, reporting directly to CEO and Co-Founder Philip Belamant.
She brings 20 years of experience in the UK and internationally, having worked at the intersection of media, financial services and public policy.
Florence joins Zilch from the Conservative Party, where she was Senior Business Advisor. Prior to that, she held senior public policy roles at Standard Chartered and Bloomberg.
The appointment comes as Zilch enters an ambitious phase of international expansion. With almost 6 million registered customers, over £4 billion in retail sales processed to date, and a £145 million annual revenue run rate, the company is now extending its model beyond the UK. Recent milestones – including the acquisition of Fjord Bank, the award of a European banking licence, the launch of Zilch Intelligent Commerce, and a multi-year strategic partnership with Visa – have set the stage for Zilch’s next phase of growth.
Philip Belamant, CEO and Co-Founder of Zilch, said: “Florence brings exactly the experience Zilch needs at this point in its journey. As we extend our model beyond the UK, bring our European bank into the group, and add new licences to support a more diverse set of products, having a leader of her calibre owning how Zilch engages with policy-makers, regulators and the public globally is essential.
“Regulation has been central to how we have built Zilch from day one. We chose to enter the FCA sandbox before launch because we believed then, as we do now, that the businesses that win in financial services over the long term are those that take regulation seriously and treat regulators as partners in building something durable for consumers. Florence’s experience and judgement will be invaluable as we move into this next chapter.”
Florence Quirici added: “Zilch is a world-class organisation and I am thrilled to be joining as it prepares to scale into Europe. With a regulated business in the UK, a European banking licence, and a clear ambition to operate across multiple jurisdictions, this is an exceptional platform from which to build a Public Affairs and Communications function that matches the company’s ambition. I am delighted to be joining Philip and the team at this point in Zilch’s journey.”