Chief executive of Starling Bank Anne Boden has said she is stepping down from the role - nine years after founding the mobile-only bank. The Swansea-born businesswoman said it was the right time to step aside and will leave her role on June 30. She will stay on the board and still own part of the company.
Ms Boden, 63, has had a 30-year career working at some of the global financial heavyweights including Lloyds Banking Group, Allied Irish and the Royal Bank of Scotland. In 2014, she founded digital challenger Starling Bank after seeing the potential for digital technology to revolutionise the way people and small businesses do their banking earlier than the rest of the industry.
Starling has since been voted Best British Bank three times and Ms Boden herself has become a role model for women in finance. She sits on the board of UK Finance and was awarded an MBE for services to financial technology in 2018.
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Speaking to BBC Wales, Ms Boden said: "It's thrilling. When I look back at how I started Starling, I never thought we would get to this stage. Starling is bigger than just one person, it is bigger than a founder-led organisation. It is a piece of infrastructure that is important to the UK. We provide a real role in society."
She added that it was "not really appropriate" for Starling to continue to have a shareholder as its chief executive. She still owns 4.9% of the company and keeps a seat on the board as a non-executive director.
The announcement by the founder comes as Starling published its latest profits for 2022-23. It has reported a pre-tax profit of £195m, a six-fold increase on the previous year.
Starling, which employs more than 2,000, has offices in Cardiff, London, Southampton and Dublin. Last year, the bank expanded its Cardiff office creating 150 jobs, taking its workforce in the city to 1,200. The fintech venture is likely to list on the London Stock Exchange over the next two years, originally committed to creating 400 jobs when unveiling its office investment in the city– at Brunel House– back in 2020.
Starling has now begun its search for a new chief executive, with chief operating officer John Mountain becoming interim chief executive.
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