HANDELSBANKEN has thrown open the doors of its second branch in Glasgow, signalling its commitment to woo business customers in the west of Scotland with its decentralised approach.
The Swedish bank’s latest branch in Scotland, based across from The Hydro in Finnieston, is headed by career banker David Waddell.
Mr Waddell spent 13 years with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and before that two decades with Bank of Scotland before making the switch.
The banker said he was attracted to Handelsbanken because it offers a different way of dealing with customers – a decentralised philosophy instigated by former chief executive Jan Wallander when he took over the reins in the 1970s.
There is no bonus structure or targets to meet, freeing employees to focus on squarely on building close relationships with their customers.
Mr Waddell, who admits life at RBS changed dramatically after it was rescued by the UK Government at the height of the financial crisis, said the “local decision making” approach favoured by Handelsbanken was a big attraction for him and his colleagues in joining the business.
“We get to be closer to customers,” he said. “The branch is the bank – the vast majority of decisions are made here. Myself and my team expect to make decisions – how we interact with the community is down to us.”
He added: “There are no sales targets. There are no bonuses, which suits a lot of people. We just want to do a good job and get the reward and satisfaction from that.”
The decentralised model dictates that each branch is run as an individual business, with its own profit and loss account.
Mr Waddell has been given free rein to assemble his own team and he also had a say over where the branch would be located. Finnieston was chosen on account of factors such as transport links and proximity to the city centre, he said, with the added bonus that it is now arguably the most fashionable part of the city.
Mr Waddell is one of a four-strong team packed with corporate banking and wealth management experience at the Finnieston branch. It includes Ian Gibson, formerly of Adam & Co, the private banking arm of RBS, and Michael McCuaig, also formerly of RBS and Bank of Scotland. Like Mr Waddell, both are well-known figures in west of Scotland banking circles.
They are supported by Monika Walker, the longest-serving member of the team having joined Handelsbanken in 2009 – the year the Swedish bank opened its first branch in Glasgow, in St Vincent Street.
“Collectively, we have 120 years of banking experience,” said Mr Waddell, who signalled ambitions to make further additions to the team.
He noted: “Twelve would be the maximum for the branch. At that level, we would expect another branch to be demanded.”
The growth strategy is guided by the “church spires principle”, with activity focused on winning business in patches well known to the team – chiefly the south side of Glasgow, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire.
Mr Waddell said customers range from SMEs and corporates to personal banking clients, noting that the personal offer, which includes mortgages, is “not a mass market offering”.
He highlighted that Handelsbanken is gaining momentum among business customers who are looking for an alternative approach to that offered by the major high street lenders. Customers recently landed include Paul Fraser, owner of Ingliston Equestrian Centre in Bishopton.
“The calls come in to us – not a call centre,” Mr Waddell said. “If they [customers] know the four people in the team then they know the team. It’s traditional – it goes back to how I worked in a branch [early in my career] myself.”
The Finnieston branch is Handelsbanken’s second in Glasgow and 10th in Scotland overall, with the bank also having a presence in cities such as Inverness, Dundee, Perth, Stirling and Aberdeen. Its UK network now stands at more than 200 branches.
Mr Waddell said no targets have been set for expanding the bank’s footprint further in Scotland. “Growth will depend on need, and identifying the right person for the patch,” he said.
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