This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/27/dennis-holt-chairman-co-op-bank
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Dennis Holt named chairman of Co-op Bank | Dennis Holt named chairman of Co-op Bank |
(35 minutes later) | |
A former top retail banker, Dennis Holt, has been named chairman of Co-operative Bank after standing in on an interim basis for the £300,000-a-year role for the past month. | |
The appointment of Holt – who used to run the high street banking operation of Lloyds TSB – takes place immediately and makes him the third chairman of the troubled bank in the last 18 months. | The appointment of Holt – who used to run the high street banking operation of Lloyds TSB – takes place immediately and makes him the third chairman of the troubled bank in the last 18 months. |
At the height of the bank’s crisis in May 2014, Richard Pym was named chairman, replacing Paul Flowers, who was later exposed for buying drugs and pleaded guilty to drug-related offences. Pym left at the start of October to chair Allied Irish Banks. | |
Holt, who has also been deputy chairman of Bank of Ireland, will have a key part to play in helping to repair the reputation of the Co-op Bank. It is now just 20%-owned by the Co-operative Group of supermarkets and funeral homes, which was crippled by the bank’s £1.5bn capital shortfall last year. | |
Holt joined the board in February as the senior independent director. “Considerable progress has been made over the last 12 months and we are clear on what remains to be done,” he said. | |
The bank has recently launched a £5m advertising campaign featuring a man appearing to have the words ethics and values tattooed on his back in an attempt to win customers. Recent data showed that the bank gained 4,463 current accounts in the three months to the end of March but lost 12,315 through the new industry-wide current account switching service which promises to move accounts glitch-free in seven days. | The bank has recently launched a £5m advertising campaign featuring a man appearing to have the words ethics and values tattooed on his back in an attempt to win customers. Recent data showed that the bank gained 4,463 current accounts in the three months to the end of March but lost 12,315 through the new industry-wide current account switching service which promises to move accounts glitch-free in seven days. |
Niall Booker, Co-op Bank’s chief executive, said: “Dennis brings more than four decades of experience and knowledge in financial services. His involvement in a wide range of challenging market environments will serve the bank well as we continue to restore trust in our brand and focus on building a credible, efficient and differentiated alternative for customers.” | |
Holt left Lloyds TSB – now Lloyds Banking Group, after the rescue of HBOS during the banking crisis – in 2001, after a 30-year career, to run a unit of the French bank Axa. Lloyds has since been forced to sell off TSB under the terms of its £20bn taxpayer bailout and Co-op’s attempt to buy the 630-strong network collapsed last year. |
Previous version
1
Next version