Santander recruits 25-strong team for corporate and property growth

BANKING giant Santander has underlined its ambition to build a major presence in the Yorkshire corporate and commercial property markets with a series of key appointments.

The Spanish group – one of the world’s top 10 banks by market capitalisation which has taken over the Alliance & Leicester, Abbey and Bradford & Bingley brands in the UK –  has recruited Jonathan Thompson from Deloitte’s corporate finance team in Yorkshire as well as a number of senior figures from rival banks including Barclays, Bank of Scotland and Fortis.

Neil Williams, the regional director for Santander corporate and commercial banking in Yorkshire, said that the bank’s lack of “baggage” and appetite for business would ensure it becomes a “serious” player in a corporate banking market rocked by the credit crunch which saw the Government bail out several major high street banks.

Jonathan Thompson joins Santander from Deloitte, where he was a director in the corporate finance team and a member of Deloitte’s national debt advisory practice and prior to that he was a director in the leveraged finance business of Lloyds TSB.

Also joining the 25-strong corporate and commercial team is Sarah Shay from Barclays.

She brings 12 years’ corporate banking experience to her new role and has previously held corporate relationship and business development roles with RBS in London, supporting businesses with a turnover between £25m and £1bn

Jamie Farrell has been recruited from Fortis where he was a director in the bank’s Yorkshire acquisition & leveraged finance team while Russell Gill, previously Yorkshire regional manager for Dunbar Bank, has 25 years banking experience.

Mark Watson has also joined following 11 years with Bank of Scotland.

Mr Williams said: “Because we are new to the market we don’t have the baggage that many other banks now have. Santander is coming into the UK to become a serious player.

“Santander has stuck to its values when other banks have not and everyone in the UK is crying out for that.

“Our culture is about growth and serving the local community. We can deliver on every sort of transaction. We are probably one of the very few banks who will lend in real estate.

“People want to get back to traditional values and traditional banking and you have to deliver on that and not be a fairweather friend.

“Customers want to trust the banks again – but you have to earn that. We want to understand where a customer has come from and where they are heading,” he added.

Santander operates in 40 countries around the globe and in the UK has more than 1,300 branches and 25m customers.