Challenger bank Shawbrook appoints new chairman Iain Cornish to replace Sir George Mathewson July 6, 2015 Challenger bank Shawbrook has appointed former Yorkshire Building Society chief executive Iain Cornish as its new chairman. Cornish replaces former RBS boss Sir George Mathewson who will step down as chairman and as director with immediate effect. Cornish is a senior independent director of debt manager Arrow Global and wealth manager St James's Place. Read more: Challenger [...]
Neil Woodford-backed challenger Atom gets thumbs-up from regulators June 24, 2015 A mobile-based bank backed by City superstar investor Neil Woodford and launched by a founder of Metro Bank has been granted a banking licence, it said this morning. Durham-based Atom, launched by former Metro Bank chairman and First Direct chief executive Mark Mullen, will launch as a mobile app at first, with a desktop version [...]
RBS hiring drive to aid challenger bank Williams & Glyn disposal June 14, 2015 One-fifth of the hires RBS is looking to make fall within the Williams & Glyn challenger bank being carved out of the state-backed lender, illustrating the scale of the task at hand as RBS readies itself to launch the revived brand as its deadline draws nearer. Of the 1,235 open positions being advertised on the [...]
RBS could be ordered to beef up new lender Williams and Glyn May 28, 2015 George Osborne yesterday asked the competition authorities to look into the RBS spin-off Williams and Glyn to make sure it is big enough to challenge other banks in the market. Bailed-out giant RBS has to carve the unit out of its existing branch and customer network, under terms imposed by the European Commission at the [...]
Financial challengers Zopa and Metro Bank join forces to bring peer-to-peer lending and high street banking together May 19, 2015 Peer-to-peer lender Zopa has teamed up with challenger bank Metro Bank to lend funds through the latter's marketplace. The deal marks the first of its kind in the UK as Metro Bank, already lending funds to Zopa's consumer borrowers, recognises peer-to-peer (P2P) lending as a new asset class. Zopa's chief executive Giles Andrews described it [...]
Aldermore ramps up the lending after IPO as challenger bank set to meet investor expectations May 14, 2015 Challenger bank Aldermore reported a sustained surge in lending in the first quarter of the year, continuing to rack up the growth after going public in March. Net lending increased seven per cent in the three-month period to hit £5.1bn, with organic loan origination coming in at £568m, up nine per cent on same period of [...]
Virgin Money eats up mortgage market share as lending rises May 1, 2015 The figures Virgin Money delivered a rise in mortgage lending and ate up a larger chunk of market share during the first quarter, cementing its position as one of the UK's fastest growing challenger banks. The lender said it enjoyed a 34 per cent rise in gross mortgage lending to £1.6bn at a time when [...]
TSB boss Paul Pester eyes up acquiring other challenger banks April 30, 2015 TSB, the self-styled challenger bank spun-off from Lloyds last year, could gobble up its competition if the bank's boss has his way. Paul Pester wants to "take on the big guys" and would consider buying up other challenger banks to make that happen. "We are Britain's biggest challenger bank, but we want to really take [...]
RBS spin-off Williams & Glyn loses chief executive John Maltby ahead of IPO April 28, 2015 Williams & Glyn, the challenger bank being carved out from RBS as a condition of the latter's bailout during the financial crisis, has lost its chief executive before it has even launched. John Maltby will be replaced by Jim Brown, currently chief executive of Ulster Bank. Maltby will take up his former role [...]
Challenger bank Cambridge and Counties swings to profit in just its second year trading April 27, 2015 Challenger bank Cambridge and Counties delivered a pre-tax profit of £4.1m in 2014, compared to a loss of £99,000 when it was set up in the previous year. It was established by the University of Cambridge’s Trinity Hall and Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund, using their large asset base to set up a small business-focused lender. Its [...]