Mayer swaps Santander for Clydesdale

Clydesdale Bank has named former Santander senior manager Paul Mayer as its head of retail branches for Scotland.

Clydesdale Bank has named former Santander senior manager Paul Mayer as its head of retail branches for Scotland. Picture: PA

The move is the second high-profile appointment in less than a week for the lender, which said on Monday that financier Jim Pettigrew had become its new chairman.

In his new role, Mayer will be responsible for “leading performance” across Clydesdale’s network of more than 140 branches.

He said: “This is a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to returning to Scotland to take on this new role. I will continue to drive a customer-focused culture by ensuring Clydesdale Bank delivers on brand principles and ultimately makes a difference for customers and the local communities we serve.”

Clydesdale, owned by National Australia Bank (NAB), said in March that it would be closing 28 “unsustainable” branches, including 16 in Scotland, to deliver a one-off saving of £5 million.

That announcement was quickly followed by NAB chief Cameron Clyne’s decision to retire at the age of 46, blaming the “personal toll” of the job and a need to spend more time with this family.

Clyne had been chairman of Clydesdale since July 2012, following the retirement of Sir Malcolm Williamson, and has been replaced in that post by Pettigrew, who is also chairman of Edinburgh Investment Trust and a non-executive at Aberdeen Asset Management.

NAB is now headed by Andrew Thorburn – no relation to Clydesdale boss David Thorburn.