Meet the Moneyfactscompare.co.uk team

James Brooks is an experienced marketing professional with various experience across the travel and property industry. He joined Moneyfacts Group in 2022, but was promoted to Website Manager at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk in 2023. His new role means he coordinates work between all departments involved in running our website to improve the user experience.

Ella Mower graduated from the University of Warwick in 2021 with an honours degree in English Literature. During her studies, she held a particular interest in the British socio-economic landscape. She now writes for Moneyfacts where she is continuing to expand her financial knowledge.

Ash graduated from Brunel University in 2011 with an honours degree in Business Management and Marketing. Since then, he worked in London and Norwich as a Marketing Manager, specialising in digital marketing work for tech companies. Joining MoneyfactsCompare in 2019, he analyses emerging trends and consumer behaviour within the UK personal finance space. Working closely with the Editorial Team, his research covers all areas of the site. 

Leanne Macardle graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2006 with a degree in Psychosocial Sciences, but quickly changed direction and jumped into the world of finance instead. A stint at Aviva and a few years of freelancing followed, before joining the editorial department at Moneyfacts Group as sub-editor in 2013. From there she took on several writing roles which saw her work across the breadth of Moneyfacts’ editorial output, from Treasury Reports and magazine features to guides and news stories on our consumer website, culminating in her becoming Editor of the comparison site. Now writing for Moneyfacts in a freelance capacity, she continues to put her personal finance knowledge to good use by making the often complex world of finance accessible and informative to readers.

Rachel Springall started her career within the financial services industry way back in 2004, working her way up the administration ranks within various independent financial advisers while also securing a CF1 qualification from the CII (UK financial services, regulation & ethics). Rachel then joined Moneyfacts in October 2008, starting out in the Investment Life & Pensions department, before branching out into the personal finance team. In 2011, Rachel joined our busy press department, and is at present our in-house finance expert and dedicated press officer for Moneyfacts Group and Moneyfactscompare.co.uk. She is currently responsible for promoting the Moneyfacts brand with not only data-driven press releases, but also her valuable insight and analysis of the UK personal finance market. Not shy in front of the cameras, Rachel has appeared on the national news (including BBC Breakfast and ITV News) and has been the voice of the brand over the airways on various radio stations across the country, including a regular Monday night slot on BBC Radio Norfolk.

James Hyde graduated from Lancaster University in 2015 with an honours degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. Since graduating, James has held various content and communications roles in the sports industry and local government, before moving to National Highways as Media Relations Manager in 2022. James joined Moneyfacts in 2023 in the newly-created role of Press & PR Manager, with responsibility for further developing the company’s public profile and relationship with the media. James has also previously served as a regional committee member for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Caitlyn joined Moneyfacts in August 2023 as Apprentice Press & PR Assistant. Caitlyn Eastell graduated from the University of Lincoln in 2023 with a 2:1 honours degree in Business and Management.

Since graduating, Caitlyn has taken an avid interest in the Press scene. Caitlyn Joined Moneyfacts in a newly-created role of Apprentice Press & PR Assistant, with the responsibility of aiding our Press & PR Manager and our Press Officer/ Finance Expert in furthering the company’s public profile and relationship with the media.

Darren Cook studied Economics and Business Economics at the University of South Africa as well as Banking Risk Techniques through Damelin School of Banking, and has recently completed a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) through The Open University. Darren has over 30 years’ experience within the financial services sector beginning back in 1988 at the First National Bank of Southern Africa, obtaining a wealth of retail and business banking management skills, knowledge and experience. He returned to the UK in 2000 and spent a short time with NatWest before joining Moneyfacts Group in 2004. Darren has held the positions of Head of Mortgages, Head of Press & Public Relations, Head of Insight & Communications and Head of Analyser Products within the Group and he enjoys nothing more than cutting to the chase of a complex UK mortgage environment to get to the heart of the important issues.

Rachel Thrussell left school at 16 and went straight to work at Barclays fulfilling various roles. After 14 years of gaining essential experience at the bank, she joined Moneyfacts in June 1993, starting in the savings department and working her way up to become Head of Savings. As Savings Analytics Manager, Rachel is one of the foremost authorities on the savings market in the UK, and is often called upon by organisations such as the NS&I for her expertise. Her responsibilities include producing the Savings Treasury Reports and Savers Friend, compiling the Savings round-up page in Moneyfacts Magazine, coordinating new listings for the data collection department, scrutinising nominees for the various Awards, and anything else savings related.

Samantha Owens graduated from The University of Hertfordshire with a degree in Applied Economics in 1995. She began her career working in pensions at Aviva before moving to Lloyds Bank to gain experience in personal customer banking. Samantha joined Moneyfacts in 1999 as a savings researcher, then went on to work in all areas of research and in the press department before managing the research teams. She now specialises in the analysis of data, creating the Moneyfacts Annual Star Ratings and Daily News Ratings, writing the Credit Card Treasury Report, and content design for online systems, for both the consumer and businesses.

An experienced Sub Editor and Proof Reader, Peter covers all areas of personal finance on the Moneyfactscompare.co.uk website.

Cameron Bone joined Moneyfacts in 2019 after gaining 5 years of financial experience in various roles at Lloyds Bank. Starting out as a Data Analyst, he worked alongside both our mortgage and insurance teams. Having moved to our Editorial team in 2022, he’s now responsible for writing and compiling our daily newsletter as the Daily News Bulletin Editor.

Suzanne joined the Moneyfacts Data & Analytics team in 1998 having worked for insurance broker Marsh and in the banking sector at Barclays and Halifax. Initially working on Investment, Life and Pensions Moneyfacts magazine, Suzanne is responsible for data capture across all Moneyfacts product datasets and outputs.

She and her team share a passion for ensuring data accuracy and timeliness through direct contact with providers combined with rigorous review and audit processes.