Monzo Founder Resigns Due to Stress and Burnout
Tom Blomfield, head of one of the UK’s most well-known fintech unicorns, is departing the company to “enjoy life again”.
Monzo founder Tom Blomfield has announced his intention to quit the challenger bank at the end of January, citing struggles with pandemic-related stress and frustrations with his work.
Staff were informed of Blomfield’s decision to leave the bank on Wednesday. On a call with TechCrunch, he revealed that the rapid growth of the business had worn him down.
“I stopped enjoying my role probably about two years ago,” he said, “as we grew from a scrappy startup that was iterating and building stuff people really love, into a really important UK bank.” In 2019 he realised he was “doing too much and not enjoying it.”
“COVID just exacerbated things,” he said. “Going through a pandemic, going through lockdown and the isolation involved in that has an impact on people’s mental health.”
“I don’t think I was any different, so I was really struggling.”
Founded by Blomfield in 2015, Monzo (originally Mondo) is one of the UK’s first digital-only banks. With a customer base of almost 5 million, it has grown into one of the most high-profile challengers to legacy banks. Despite this, the company has yet to make a profit.
Blomfield stepped back from his role as the bank’s CEO in May last year and resigned from its board, stepping into the newly created title of president and leaving banking veteran TS Anil at the helm.
“Monzo is where it is today because of Tom and his vision to transform banking,” said a Monzo spokesperson. “He leaves us with the foundations and inspiration to win under TS Anil’s leadership. We’ll miss him very much.”
According to TechCrunch, Blomfield is currently finishing his vaccination training, which will allow him to take part in the UK’s national COVID-19 vaccination rollout as a volunteer worker.
