Natwest to appoint Rick Haythornthwaite as new chair and he’ll take charge next April
Natwest has picked Rick Haythornthwaite to succeed Howard Davies as chair of the bank, the lender confirmed today.
Haythornthwaite, who is currently chair of Ocado and the AA, will join the bank as a non-executive director in January before taking up the new role on 15 April next year.
The move was quickly welcomed by City minister Andrew Griffith, who said: “He is an experienced and widely respected choice to Chair one of the UK’s largest banks.”
Haythornthwaite said: “It is a privilege to assume the role of Natwest Group Chair. I am inheriting a very different Natwest compared to my predecessor; one that is more customer focused, financially resilient and well positioned to maintain its recent strong performance.”
Outgoing chair Sir Howard Davies said he was “very pleased by the choice the board has made and am confident that Rick’s experience and range of skills will complement and further strengthen” the lender.
The news comes as Natwest recovers from the debanking scandal involving former UKIP leader Nigel Farage. Bank documents obtained by Farage showed that private bank Coutts, which is owned by Natwest, had closed his bank account partly because of his political opinions.
Boss Alison Rose was later forced to resign after it emerged she was the unnamed source for a BBC story that claimed Farage’s Coutts account was closed because it fell below the required wealth threshold.
Paul Thwaite has since appointed interim chief executive, having been chief executive of the bank’s commercial and institutional business.
Davies, who had already announced he would be stepping down, decided to stay on despite facing pressure to go. It is not thought Davies’ exit will be accelerated as a result of today’s announcement.
Davies was appointed chair of what was then the Royal Bank of Scotland back in 2015. In that time he has overseen large scale restructuring of the bank, including its return to majority private ownership last year.