Hampden & Co hires former Scottish Building Society boss

The former boss of the Scottish Building Society has been appointed to a senior role at private bank Hampden & Co.

From left: Graeme Hartop and Mark Thomson. Picture: Stewart Attwood.

Mark Thomson has been named head of credit at the lender that said it became the first UK private bank to be set up in a quarter of a century when it launched in 2015.

Thomson – also formerly credit director at Scottish ­Widows Bank – brings almost four decades of banking industry experience. He is a chartered banker, a fellow of the Chartered Bankers Institute, and he chaired the Northern ­Association of Building Societies’ executive committee between 2017 and 2019.

He said: “I’ve always been of the opinion that every client’s individual circumstances should be a very important factor when assessing lending applications and not placing total reliance on application scoring systems employed by the vast majority of the mainstream banking sector.

The duo previously worked together at Scottish Widows Bank. Picture: Stewart Attwood.

“Hampden & Co is in direct contrast to the high-street banks in this area, the bank is making the right impression in the marketplace and I look forward to contributing to its ongoing success.”

Hampden & Co boss Graeme Hartop said Thomson was a key member of the senior team during his time at ­Scottish Widows Bank.

He added: “Mark will ­manage our approach to individual credit decision-making, in particular for clients with complex requirements but low risk profile – something that the high-street banks find difficult to provide by way of automation.”