A management shake-up is taking place at the North East’s newest challenger bank after its chair Paul Rippon and two fellow board members resigned.
GB Bank is aiming to lend £3bn over five years in property development finance to underserved regions of the UK, with an initial focus in the North East, Yorkshire and the North West, having received its full UK banking licence last summer. The organisation, which moved its head office from Newcastle to Middlesbrough, says the huge funding injection will help in the creation of some 100,000 jobs, as well as 20,000 new homes and several million square feet of office space.
Now, after more than two years with the organisation, Paul Rippon has decided to resign. GB Bank scored something of coup when Mr Rippon took on the role as chair, months after deciding to step down from mobile-only bank Monzo to recharge his batteries while also working alongside his wife Debbie at their Northumberland farm, Barnacres Alpacas.
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Mr Rippon, who has 30 years’ of experience in roles at banks and building societies in the UK and Ireland, co-founded Monzo seven years ago, making headlines when it broke crowdfunding records as it reach its fundraising target in just 96 seconds.
Two non-executive directors – Jerome Moisan and David Price – have also resigned. GB Bank said their departures come as the bank moves into a new phase, which is demanding more time from its board members.
The resignations also come five months after co-founder Stephen Lancaster was appointed as chief executive – the third CEO in less than two years. He replaced Sue Hayes, who left the business after seven months to become CEO of the Nottingham Building Society. Ms Hayes had replaced Steve Deutsch, the bank’s first CEO, who oversaw its progression from a start-up before leaving at the end of 2020.
A spokesman for the bank said: ”As GB Bank enters a new and exciting phase as a fully operational bank, following the granting of our full UK banking licence in August, there is a need for greater time commitment from members of the GB Bank Board.
“As such, Paul Rippon has made the decision to resign as chair. We have exercised our board succession plan, with Mike Kirsopp appointed as interim chair. Mike is the current chair of GB Bank’s audit & risk committee and has more than 40 years’ experience in the property finance sector.
“In recognition of the competing demands on their time and after several years in post, independent non-executive director Jerome Moisan and investor non-executive director David Price have also resigned from the board. We aim to appoint their replacements shortly as we conclude the recruitment processes. As the bank enters its next phase of growth, the board and entire team at GB Bank thank and wish Paul, Jerome and David every success.”
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