Who we are

Patrick Briscoe

B2B and SIAM Director

Patrick joined NS&I in December 2023 as Director, Service Integration & Management (SIAM) and Business-to Business (B2B) and has over twenty years’ experience delivering critical services and operations.

Patrick was most recently at the Home Office where he led various service delivery functions with scope across all the Department’s business areas, working with and integrating multiples suppliers in an extremely complex and challenging environment.

Prior to joining the Civil Service, the majority of Patrick’s career has been spent working in similar roles in retail and commercial banking organisations, as well as a short period with a major B2B travel management company.

2023-24 Salary:
£120,000 - £125,000.

Ruth Curry

People and Finance Director

Ruth Curry joined NS&I on 1 July 2019. She has extensive civil service experience, starting her career in the Cabinet Office and undertaking a wide variety of policy roles, including leading on Open Government, clerk to the Intelligence & Security Committee, and as the Health policy lead in the Office of Public Service Reform.

Having qualified as an accountant in 2006, Ruth has held senior finance roles in a number of departments including the Department for Education, Serious Fraud Office and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Before joining NS&I, Ruth was Acting Director of Finance and Business Services Director at HM Land Registry.

Before joining the civil service, Ruth was a solicitor working on company and commercial issues in the City. She studied Law at Lancaster University, completed her legal studies at Guildford College of Law, and undertook her articles with Stephenson Harwood LLP.

2023-24 Salary:
£125,000 - £130,000

• Ruth Curry on LinkedIn

Andrew Gudgeon OBE

Risk Director

Andrew Gudgeon OBE joined NS&I in December 2023 as the Director of Risk. Andrew had a 29-year career in the Royal Air Force, during which he held senior leadership positions in the Ministry of Defence, the UK Cabinet Office, and the US Pentagon. Following retirement from the Royal Air Force, he was honoured with an OBE for services to cyber warfare.

Andrew joined NS&I from the Zurich Insurance (UK) Senior Leadership team, where he was Head of Enterprise and Operational Risk Management. As a technical/engineering expert, he sat on the Zurich Municipal Services Board and on the Non-Insurance Risk and Controls Committee, modernising risk management, providing data-led risk advice and support across the insurance capabilities.

Andrew entered the financial sector in 2016 as Head of Operational Risk at Nationwide Building Society, where he oversaw risk within the early-stage delivery of a major technical transformation and digitisation programme. Andrew recently stood down as a Board Director with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, where he led on the delivery of the UK’s first Business Cyber Centre which opened in 2022.

2023-24 Salary:
£130,000 – £135,000

Gareth Headon

Communications and Strategy Director

Gareth joined NS&I's Board in February 2021 as Acting People and Strategy Director. In December 2022 he was appointed Communications and Strategy Director. He leads internal and external communications, market research and insight, and strategy.

Gareth joined NS&I in 2008 initially as Head of Media and then Head of Communications leading on all internal and external communications activity. He became Assistant Director, Communications and Strategy in 2014. 

Prior to N&SI, Gareth spent six years with Eurostar where he worked across corporate and consumer PR and government relations. He also worked for two years in Which? magazine’s press office and began his career at a PR agency working with clients in the technology sector.

2023-24 Salary:
£125,000 – £130,000

Matthew Smith

Chief Operating Officer

Matt is responsible for the delivery of the NS&I outsourcing business model and the relationship with the Agency’s key partner Atos, including service delivery, complaints, commercial and change assurance and procurement. He joined NS&I in August 2018 and brings over twenty-five years of global experience leading sourcing, operational excellence and business transformation initiatives to deliver customer-focused outcomes.

Matt was most recently Director of EMEA Supply Chain for DXC Technology (DXC), the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services and solutions company, during a period of major change before, during and after the creation of DXC through the merger of Computer Sciences Corporation and HP Enterprise Services. Before DXC, Matt had a long career with the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation (DNB), where he was most recently Global Vice-President and Chief Procurement Officer with responsibility for sourcing and third-party compliance.

Prior to that he was International Vice-President for strategy implementation and business process reengineering across DNB’s footprint in Europe, Asia Pacific and South America, where he partnered with stakeholders to deliver operations and supply chain strategy, operating margin optimisation and acquisition integration. Earlier in his career, Matt had a variety of roles in operations management, sourcing and change implementation.

Matt is a certified practitioner of Managing Successful Programmes and a previous recipient of the annual Institute of Consulting award for best internal consulting project.

2023-24 Salary:
£145,000 - £150,000

Andrew Westhead

Retail Director

Andrew joined NS&I as Retail Director in September 2023. He has 18 years of financial services experience within the private sector, most recently working for Nationwide Building Society for 13 years as a Regional Director. In 2021, Andrew completed his Executive MBA from The University of Nottingham.

2023-24 Salary: 
£125,000 – £130,000