Monzo chairman Gary Hoffman to stand down after nearly eight years

The chairman of Monzo’s board, who was reportedly in a boardroom battle with some Monzo shareholders over the departure of its former CEO, is standing down from the role. Banking veteran Gary Hoffman is standing down from the role at the digital bank next month after nearly eight years.

Hoffman, who spent 25 years at Barclays and was previously CEO of Northern Rock, will be replaced on an interim basis by Karen Peacock, a Monzo non-executive director, as it hunts for a long-term replacement, in news first reported by Sky News.

Peacock, who joined the Monzo board in 2025, is a Harvard and Stanford graduate who has served as CEO of Intercom and general manager of Intuit.

Under Hoffman, in a surprise announcement, Monzo last year announced it was replacing CEO TS Anil with former Google and Standard Chartered executive Diana Layfield.

Anil's exit led to a reported boardroom battle between Hoffman, who has also chaired the Premier League, and some shareholders unhappy at Anil’s departure from the role.

Hoffman’s departure is understood to be his own decision and follows him having treatment for prostate cancer. Monzo has grown to now boast over 16m customers compared to 1.6m when Hoffman joined.

Hoffman said: “Having been chair for nearly eight years, I will leave with immense pride knowing my colleagues have created one of the UK’s leading banks that brings together the best of technology and banking, living up to the original founders’ dream of making money work for everyone. On a personal note, I am now successfully through several years of difficult prostate cancer treatment and I want to enjoy my good fortune in recovering by focusing on the people and priorities that inevitably take a back seat in a demanding role: my family and my passion for sport.”

Peacock commented: "When Gary joined Monzo, we had 1.6 million customers and a mission. Today we are 10 times that scale, with 16 million customers and products spanning almost every aspect of our customers' financial lives, and are evermore devoted to our mission to make money work for everyone. In my role as an interim Chair, I will continue building on Gary and the team’s work as Monzo focuses on delivering for our customers and on exciting growth opportunities in the UK and Europe.“