RBS banking on region with new corporate HQ

Feb 6 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

A LEADING bank has decided to move its corporate services to a new Newcastle headquarters to handle its growing North-East business.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is relocating its corporate banking team’s headquarters to the Trinity Gardens building on the Quayside in a move it says will enable the business to sustain its recent growth.

The new HQ will house the North-East corporate and commercial banking teams, plus Lombard – the asset finance arm of RBS, RBS Invoice Finance, RBS International Banking Services, Corporate Risk Solutions, Business Banking and Coutts.

RBS has taken the entire second floor of Trinity Gardens, trebling the floor space to 22,000 sq ft and the teams are expected to be in place within weeks.

The move to the new offices on the Quayside demonstrates its desire to invest further in the North-East to service its expanding customer base, says the bank.

Kevin Tokell, director of commercial banking for RBS in the North-East, said: “The new office provides us with an ideal opportunity to bring together staff from across the RBS Group which, by working more closely together, will allow us to create more bespoke financial solutions for businesses across Newcastle and the North-East.

“We are determined to grow our operations and see this move as a catalyst for these aspirations.

“Our focus is firmly centred on our customers who have access to a dedicated, professional and highly experienced relationship team and this has been recently recognised by the market, which has voted us number one for customer service in a recent independent Mori Survey.”

Matt Lowe, RBS director of corporate banking in the North-East, said: “The region is of enormous importance to RBS and our commitment to the area is reflected through the significant investment we have made to our Newcastle-based team.

“The corporate banking team alone grew by 50% last year, further strengthening our capability in the region and enabling a proactive approach to meeting business needs with flexible solutions.

“Newcastle is a growing region and one that is attracting greater investment and an increasingly sophisticated customer base.

“Our objective is to create a centre of excellence that will allow us to offer innovative and flexible thinking, extensive resources and unrelenting focus on our relationships with the business community.”