Co-op Bank reduces board

THE Co-operative Bank has announced plans to reduce the size of its board of directors, which had swelled following its merger with Britannia Building Society last year.

The bank said that seven directors – four non-executives and three executive directors – will be stepping down from the board between now and September 8.

However, the three executive directors – retail managing director Rod Bulmer, chief operating officer Tim Franklin and integration & change director Phil Lee were all remaining with the business as executives.

The four non-executive directors to leave the board are Stephen Kingsley, Steve Watts, Piers Williamson and Chris Jones.

Jones had been a non-executive director at the Britannia Building Society since 2003. He is a former managing partner at law firm Hammonds who is also currently managing partner at Ilkley-based Tourmalet Consulting and chairman of TheBusinessDesk.com.

He merged his business advisory and restructuring boutique Armitage Jones with Montpelier Chartered Accountants’ newly launched turnaround division last year.

The Co-Operative Bank said that the recruitment of two new non-executive directors is currently “in progress”.