First things first for Andy in the banking name game

THERE is a view in the relatively small world of Scottish business that you have not really made it until you can be recognised by your first name.

Mention Sir Fred, Sir Tom, the other Sir Tom, or Sandy and most people would know who you are talking about – Goodwin, Hunter, Farmer and Crombie.

Such is their fame that even those who do not know the big beasts of the Caledonian corporate elite often claim to be on first-names terms.

Yet if one of the movers and shakers of the business world were (perhaps over lunch in corporate Edinburgh's "canteen", Oloroso) to mention an "Andy" to a colleague there might be at least a little hesitation.

Yet the Andy in question, – Hornby of HBOS – should, by most people's reckoning, be up their among the businessmen (they are mostly men) who have first-name recognition. Hornby will be in the spotlight next week. The company which he took charge of in July 2006, at the tender age of 38, announces its full-year results on Wednesday.

Those who know him say that the chief executive of the bank formed by the merger of the Halifax and the Bank of Scotland will take the day in his stride.

What the detail will be, no-one knows for sure, but HBOS is, in line with the other "big five" banks, expected to deliver a decent or possibly even more than decent set of figures.

It will be another milestone in what has been an impressive career for the man who has reached one of the most senior positions in British banking and is still only 40.

Hornby is not one of those who can be described as part of the Scottish business Mafia, like the Sir Toms, or Sir Fred or Sandy.

The son of a headmaster, he hails from England's west country and has not followed a traditional Scottish banking career.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, who chose the sciences or maths, Hornby studies English at Oxford University.

After a spell in consultancy, he won a coveted place at Harvard where, amid stiff competition from the crme de la crme of bright young corporate wannabes, he came top in his MBA class.

It was this that marked him out for future success, putting him in a position where companies looking for future senior executives sought him out, rather than him chasing them.

Yet even at that stage neither bank nor building society called.

Hornby went to Blue Circle, where he worked on home products, and Asda, where he ended up as the head of the George clothing line.

There are those in both the City and in Scotland's business establishment who view this background as a drawback in his current position.

Though it is whispered, and never said openly, some wonder what someone with this kind of experience is doing running one of Scotland's great financial institutions.

Those who are close to Hornby say that it is this background in retailing that is his strength, first brought to the company at Halifax retail and subsequently when he took over from James Crosby as head of the merged company.

Hornby's style is, his supporters say, to be "approachable and down to earth."

One says: "The way he runs things is very collegiate. He listens, considers people's view and then makes up his mind."

He is also, it is said, passionate about the staff, those who in the language of the company are described as "front-line colleagues".

He goes on line regularly for "ask Andy" sessions and appears on an internal television service.

He may be approachable, but he is also fiercely intelligent. Someone in the business who met him recently said his mental ability shows through

"He is obviously very, very bright. When I would begin a sentence on some banking issue or other, Andy was frequently, but politely, already at the point I was getting to before I got there."

And the "ordinary Joe" image is reinforced by his love of football – he is a Bristol City supporter – and racing.

One observer who met him recently said that, unlike Sir Fred, he can talk about subjects other than banking, football in particular

But this down-to-earth image does not convince everyone.

One seasoned City observer says: "He wants to paint a picture of being friendly, approachable, a good guy. But I get the impression that behind the scenes he is ruthless. You would not want to get on the wrong side of him.

"It's obvious he is viciously competitive – he was a chief executive of a Footsie 100 company by his mid-thirties."

It has also been claimed that he has not visited the local branch near the flat he rents in central Edinburgh – Hornby has chosen not to move the Capital as his two young children are at school in Yorkshire.

This, it is said, has annoyed the staff at the branch and reflects badly on his style. Critics, anonymously, of course, have called him "Mr Low-profile" or "Mr No-body".

For his allies this is utter nonsense. Hornby has, they say, visited around 700 of their 1,100 branches over the years.

Perhaps more importantly, however, there are still question marks over his leadership of one of the big five UK banks.

One analyst says: "What we have seen so far has been good in terms of the figures HBOS produces under him but there is a question about whether he has a long-term strategy.

"We don't know yet and so far that has been OK. However, people will look closely at what he says when HBOS publish their results."

Hornby's allies say that he will be happy just to be judged by those results.

And, to emphasise that he is not merely a gate-crashing the bankers parties, they say he has demonstrated a grasp of all of the aspects of banking, from corporate finance to mortgages.

Hornby is also a player in the area between politics and business, his supporters say. He has been careful to court both Gordon Brown – a long-time Bank of Scotland account holder – and Alex Salmond.

And he can weather storms when he has to. He took the recent flak he and the bank took over Farepak "very philosophically".

He both defended the line that the bank could not be its customers keeper while sanctioning the largest single contribution to the fund to help Farepak victims.

So Hornby has come through some tough times and is well-placed to endure the tougher times ahead for the financial sector.

The Scottish business classes may not yet be on first-name terms with "Andy". It looks like they soon will be.

ANDY HORNBY: BUSINESS CV

HORNBY'S first job was with Boston Consulting Group where worked principally in the media and retail sectors.

From there, he then went to Harvard, where he obtained his MBA.

Between 1993 and 1995, he was at Blue Circle in senior line management roles.

For three years between 1996 and 1999, he worked for Asda, including as director of corporate development and as retail managing director. He ended up as managing director of George, Asda's clothing business.

In 1999 he joined Halifax as chief executive, Halifax retail and was appointed to the board.

Less then a year later, after the merger of Bank of Scotland and Halifax, he was appointed chief executive of the retail division of HBOS.

In July 2005 he was appointed chief operating officer and a year after that chief executive of HBOS.