eFinancialCareers

Bank of Ireland has unveiled plans to double the number of staff it employs in Scotland over the next three years after announcing a 60% income increase.

Currently, the numbers Bank of Ireland employs north of the border aren’t exactly huge – around 30 – but it says a push into business and mortgage banking has spurred it to double this figure.

The group as a whole has announced a 6% increase in profits, to €1.79bn, but income in Scotland increased by 60%. Profits for the UK as a whole came in 18% higher than last year, at £189m.

Des Crowley, UK chief executive of Bank of Ireland, says that Scotland is a key area for growth: “We currently have around 30 people in Scotland, and our expansion is really controlled by the quality of people we can get. We would like to eventually reach a market share in business banking of around 5%. If you are a serious player in a market, you need to be reaching those kinds of levels.”

David Bond, a director of Edinburgh-based headhunter Cairns Bond, says there’s no shortage of good people on the market: “You only have to look to the 90 people ejected from HBOS in the last couple of weeks. These are quality people who are client-facing, good relationship managers with proven deal-making skills.”

Bank of Ireland has managed to poach a few key hires from local rivals, including Raymond Foster from HBOS, and Norrie Henderson to run its Scottish mortgage business, which the bank said was underdeveloped. In total, it’s recruited seven senior staff.

Crowley adds: “When I first looked at the mortgage market in the UK, I realised that we were fairly big everywhere apart from Scotland. We just had no focus in Scotland. You need people on the ground, which is why we appointed Norrie.”

Bond reckons these roles typically pay £60k-£90k at the mid-to-senior end.

The Bank of Ireland’s results show a ‘minimal’ exposure to subprime related products.