T es co poaches Ulster Bank boss Gerry Mall onto take control of banking wing
FORMER Danske Bank boss Gerry Mall on is on the move to Scotland as he becomes chief executive of Tesco Bank.
The Belfast man has been head of Ulster Bank in the Republic for two years, following seven years in the role of chief executive of Dankse Bank. He is also chairman of the Irish Football Association (IFA).
The 48-year-old’s career has brought him from the Northern Ireland subsidiary of a Danish bank headquartered in Copenhagen to the Dublin base of a bank owned by a Scottish parent company — and now to Edinburgh, where Tesco Bank is based.
And his latest post, which he will take up in July, means he is bidding farewell to the world of traditional branch banking combined with digital and mobile.
Instead, he will enter a banking model without a traditional branch network — although around 300 Tesco stores also offer some Tesco Bank services. He will also be part of the Tesco Group executive.
The father-of-four and past pupil of Rathmore Grammar School took on the role of chief executiveof Danske Bank in 2008 just weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers heralded the start of the credit crunch.
Les Matheson, chief executive of personal and business banking at Ulster Bank parent RBS, said: “Gerry has made a significant contribution to the continued turnaround of Ulster Bank since joining in 2016.
“The balance sheet is stronger, costs are down and our customer service scores continue to improve.
“Under Gerry’s tenure, Ulster Bank has also continued to make progress in supporting our personal and business customers in Ireland with strong growth in new lending.”
A spokesman for Tesco Bank said it has over 250,000 current account customers, as well as 5.5 million across its total range of banking and insurance servcies.
Dave Lewis, chief executive of Tesco Group plc, welcomed Mr Mallon’s appointment.
He said: “Gerry joins Tesco Bank at a time of increasing digital change in financial services, which offers Tesco a brilliant opportunity to further develop and grow the helpful services we provide our customers through banking and insurance.”
Mr Mallon added: “Tesco Bank has a unique opportunity to provide for millions of Tesco customers, and I am ready to meet the challenge of being the bank for people who shop at Tesco.
In a 2015 Business Telegraph interview, Mr Mallon described how he had studied engineering at Cambridge University before turning his hand to economics.
“Instead of coming out as a poor engineer, I came out as a reasonable economist,” he said.