Jim McColl's Scottish challenger bank Alba boosts top brass ahead of launch

Alba Bank, the business-focused lender backed by Scottish business tycoon Jim McColl, has appointed two banking industry veterans with a combined 70-plus years’ experience to senior roles as it gears up for launch.

From left: Robert Sharpe and Andrew Lewis, with Alba saying their hires mark 'another crucial milestone in our journey towards launch'. Picture: contributed.

The East Kilbride-based organisation that bills itself as the UK’s newest challenger bank dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has signed up Robert Sharpe and Andrew Lewis as chair of the board and chief risk officer respectively.

The hires come after Alba Bank was earlier this year granted its banking licence, allowing it to move into mobilisation, and it says is currently focusing on building out its team, operations, and infrastructure.

Sharpe, who is also currently chair at three plcs – Metro Bank plc, Hampshire Trust Bank, and Pollen Street – brings more than 45 years’ experience in retail banking. Lewis has in excess of 25 years’ experience in financial services, and joins from Aldermore Bank, where he spent three years as its chief risk officer. Prior to that he was an expert partner at Bain & Co in its financial services and digital practice, and, before that, spent more than two decades at NatWest Group where he held various senior business and risk roles, most recently MD of commercial and private banking. He was also co-founder of the Royal Bank of Scotland-owner’s digital lending platform Esme Loans.

Sharpe said: “I’m looking forward to using my experience of building successful challenger banks to helping Alba achieve its vision and strategy. I am very excited to be part of this new venture.”

Lewis said: “I’ve spent a lot of my career working with the SME sector, which has been consistently failed by the big banks. There are many reasons for that failure, but we see a real opportunity for Alba to champion this key part of the UK economy as a specialist lender.”

Rod Ashley, chief executive of Alba Bank, which was founded by Jim McColl in 2018 to provide commercial finance to UK SMEs and in 2021 launched a £5 million funding round, said: “With the addition of Robert and Andy to our leadership team, Alba has reached another crucial milestone in our journey towards launch. Their insight into the challenges and opportunities of creating a bank committed to serving SMEs will be invaluable as we accelerate plans for launch.”