Recovery blow as 'face of banking' quits

Published on Sunday 22 November 2009 22:13

SCOTLAND'S economic recovery could be hindered by the decision of a key banking figure to step down as chairman and chief executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland, business leaders warned last night.

Susan Rice, one of the country's most senior bankers, is regarded as the "face of banking in Scotland" and her high-profile role is credited with keeping many businesses afloat.

Lady Rice, who will remain as managing director of the Lloyds Banking Group in Scotland, announced her decision to the board at a meeting of Lloyds TSB Scotland last Thursday.

Sources say she has been "sidelined" over the past six months and questioned whether the banking group's explanation of "restructuring" was a reason for her departure.

Last night, Raymond O'Hare, chairman of the Institute of Directors Scotland, said: "It's disappointing to hear that Susan Rice is going. I know her personally and she is extremely active in the business community.

"She's a great individual with great integrity.

"Scottish business and the Scottish economy needs all the key players it can muster in the top team during a recession. Anything which takes her away from the mainstream is a loss."

There has been speculation Ms Rice's departure was due, in part, to her unease over how a dispute between the banking group and its charitable arm – the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland – was being handled.

However, the banking group said her decision follows the announcement that Lloyds TSB Scotland was being sold in order to meet European Commission competition requirements.

At the same board meeting, three non-executives – John McCormick, Julia Ogilvy and James Ferguson – also announced their departure from the foundation. Insiders claim the decision by the three was a reaction to Lady Rice's departure. Mr Ferguson is also a trustee of the foundation.

Last month, it emerged that hundreds of Scottish charities would lose at least 6 million after the organisation stopped accepting grant applications.

Last night, Lady Rice said: "I was absolutely delighted when I was asked to take on a much larger role as managing director of Lloyds Banking Group Scotland. The role covers all the group's activities in Scotland, including both banks.

"It was always planned that I would move to focus all of my efforts on the wider interests of the group in Scotland, and now that the decision about the disposal of Lloyds TSB Scotland has been finalised, it seemed like the right time."

Mary Craig, chief executive of Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, said she did not believe Ms Rice's departure and the resignations were linked to the funding battle between the foundation and the bank.

"We are dismayed that anyone should seek to wrongly tie in decisions made by Susan Rice and members of Lloyds TSB Scotland's board to the situation the foundation currently finds itself in with Lloyds Banking Group in London.

"Nothing that has happened affects or alters the foundation's determination or ability to seek a resolution."

Dynamic mover and shaker – and mother of three to boot

SUSAN Rice, CBE, is one of the highest-profile movers and shakers on the Scottish banking scene.

Last December, Lady Rice, 62, hit the headlines when she was named as managing director of Lloyds Banking Group in Scotland.

She was born and raised in Rhode Island in the United States.

Lady Rice spent the early part of her career as an academic and was a dean at both Yale and Colgate universities.

She then moved into the banking sector in 1986 at NatWest Bancorp in New York, where she rose up the ranks to become senior vice-president.

In 1996, she moved to Scotland, taking a role at Bank of Scotland's head of personal banking.

Since then, she has lived in Aberdeen with her husband, Sir Duncan Rice, principal of Aberdeen University, and their three children.

In September 2000, Lady Rice became chief executive of Lloyds TSB Scotland, overseeing a period of unprecedented growth for the bank, expanding the business and increasing profit by more than 55 per cent over four years, as well as leading the group's network in the north of England.

Outside of banking, she has many interests, including social inclusion and the arts, and is a trustee of the Lloyds TSB Foundation in Scotland.

Lady Rice also chairs the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the largest book festival in the world, and is chairwoman of the forum that develops the future of the Edinburgh Festival.

She chairs the advisory board of the Scottish Centre for Research on Social Justice, is a director of Scottish Business in the Community and a founding director of Charity Bank.