How do you modernise a 50-year-old financial mutual without losing the values that made it matter in the first place? Jim Islam, Chief Executive Officer of OneFamily, shares how he is leading one of the UK’s largest mutual financial organisations through a period of renewal—expanding its relevance, accessibility, and impact while staying true to its founding purpose of inspiring better futures.
Founded in the 1970s with a commitment to inclusion and long-term financial resilience, OneFamily has grown from a small London office into the UK’s largest Child Trust Fund provider, now supporting 1.5 million customers. Jim reflects on how the organisation has reinvented itself—diversifying its products, investing heavily in technology, and redesigning customer journeys—so that long-term savings and protection products remain meaningful and accessible for new generations.
In this episode, Jim explores leadership in purpose-led systems: why mutuals and cooperatives are experiencing a cultural resurgence; how deeply collaborative strategy-building creates genuine buy-in during transformation; and why innovation should start with people, not products. Drawing on his own experience of social mobility and a career spanning start-ups and large institutions, Jim offers a compelling perspective on possibility, trust, and the role financial services can play in building more resilient futures.
Supported by Norman Broadbent: https://www.normanbroadbent.com/
Jim Islam