Leigh Bartlett takes CFO role at Williams & Glyn

Leigh Bartlett joins the new challenger bank at the start of September. Picture: Contributed

ROYAL Bank of Scotland yesterday announced the appointment of a chief financial officer at Williams & Glyn, the new challenger bank it is selling next year to help boost UK competition, particularly in small business lending.

Leigh Bartlett is to join the business on 1 September, subject to regulatory approval, having spent four years as CFO of Westpac New Zealand bank.

Williams & Glyn is being created from the sale of about 300 branches by RBS, ordered by the European Union as a condition of the Scots parent’s state bailout.

Before his time with Westpac, Bartlett held senior UK banking and corporate finance roles with RBS, Alliance & Leicester, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG.

He said: “I look forward to playing a leading role in building a vibrant UK challenger bank in Williams & Glyn. [It] has a proud heritage of customer service, which reaches back to the 1700s. The new bank will draw on this and be a positive and powerful addition to the UK banking sector.”

Simon McNamara, RBS chief administrative officer, said Bartlett would “bring a wealth of experience”.