(Reuters) - Crisis-hit British subprime lender Provident Financial (>> Provident Financial) has appointed former Northern Rock executive, Rick Hunkin, as its chief risk officer, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Provident has run into trouble after trying to reorganise its door-to-door lending business by ending its model of using self-employed agents as debt collectors and replacing them with directly employed staff.

The company, which gives loans to people who do not meet the lending criteria of mainstream banks, has been unable to recruit 2,500 employees to replace its 5,000 agents, leading to uncollected debt, a sales slump and the departure of its chief executive.

Hunkin has been chief risk officer at Royal Bank of Scotland (>> Royal Bank of Scotland Group) Williams & Glyn unit since August 2014 and held the same position at Northern Rock between 2008 and 2011, according to his LinkedIn page.

Hunkin states on his LinkedIn page that he will be Provident's interim group chief risk officer effective Nov. 6.

The appointment was first reported by Sky News. http://bit.ly/2zonCbM

Provident declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru)

Stocks treated in this article : Provident Financial, Royal Bank of Scotland Group