Yorkshire to be home of new regional bank

HANDELSBANKEN’S  fifth British regional bank, which will serve its operations across Yorkshire and the North East, will be headquartered in Leeds.

The new regional bank will be led by former Hull branch manager Simon Lodge, who will return to his banking roots after five years’ heading up Handelsbanken’s regional operations in London and the South East.

The UK is the fastest-growing of Handelsbanken’s home markets, its local branch network having almost trebled in size since 2008. Around 32 of the bank’s 177 present UK branches will form the new Yorkshire & North East UK Regional Bank, due to open in January 2015.

Lodge said: “Having grown up and spent most of my banking career in the region, I understand why those looking for a local banking relationship find our experienced, empowered branch teams so refreshing. Since I joined Handelsbanken a decade ago, serving first Leeds then Hull branch customers, we have demonstrated our commitment to strong and lasting customer relationships all over the region. The warmth of response from customers and local professionals, coupled with the economic potential we see in communities across the region, has encouraged us to set up our fifth UK regional bank, with its head office to be located in Leeds.”

Anders Bouvin, Handelsbanken’s UK chief executive, added: “Our continuing growth in the UK comes down to a clear, long-term focus on customer satisfaction, prudent banking and cost efficiency. We will continue to invest in traditional, local banking to meet the demand we see from businesses and individuals across Britain.”  
   
Handelsbanken, which was launched in Sweden 143 years ago, has operations in 24 countries.