Metro chief rules out acquiring branches from rivals

THE head of Britain's first new high street bank for more than a century has ruled out acquiring branches from those being forced to sell assets.

• Anthony Thomson

Anthony Thomson, chairman and co-founder of US-based Metro Bank, said instead the business would be built "branch by branch".

He said that he would not make an offer for the hundreds of Lloyds TSB and Cheltenham & Gloucester branches or any other UK banking assets on the market. Thomson, who says Metro will open more than 200 bank branch "stores" in the UK in a decade, told a meeting in London last week, sponsored by financial ethics watchdog the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, that the new group would avoid the acquisition trail.

"The answer is no. I don't believe you can acquire or merge your way to a better banking culture. You have to grow it from the ground up," he said. "You start with just one store, embed in the local community and build it up store by store."

Thomson, who launched Metro with American financial magnate Vernon Hill last year, also criticised what he claimed was the customer-unfriendly UK banking model.

"For instance, it would be outrageous if you could not shop in your supermarket on the weekend. How can banks only open Monday to Friday?"

Thomson said Metro's focus on organic growth debunked "the four myths" of British banking: that "the branch is dead, the rate (paid on deposits] is everything, that no-one switches accounts and that you can only make money by cutting costs".

He said no Metro bank teller would have their remuneration linked to sales targets, which he felt triggered both regulatory action and staff turnover.

"No-one in Metro Bank who faces customers is rewarded on sales targets. The consequence is mis-selling." Thomson said.

Metro has four branches in London, with four more planned this year.