Sainsbury’s Bank hires Steve Burke as COO

By ERIKKA ASKELAND
Published on 12/03/2013 00:00

SAINSBURY’S Bank, the joint venture between the retailer and Lloyds Banking Group, has hired Steve Burke as chief operating officer (COO).

He has most recently been executive director and COO at Diligenta, a business process outsourcing company focused on the life and pensions sector, part of the Indian industrial conglomerate Tata Group. He also worked for Friends Life and Axa Life over a 20-year career.

He set up Diligenta’s operational strategy including the creation of an outsourcing utility model and IT transformation programme.

At Sainsbury’s Burke will oversee IT, distribution and customer service, reporting to chief executive Peter Griffiths.

Griffiths said: “Steve has a proven track record of delivering significant cost reductions whilst improving customer service. We believe his experience will be an asset to the bank as we enter this next chapter of our growth.”

Burke said it was an “exciting time to be joining Sainsbury’s Bank” adding that there was a “massive opportunity with 22 million customers visiting Sainsbury’s stores every week”.