A conversation with the new head of Coutts crown dependencies

His diverse experience has proved invaluable for him today, helping him look beyond the numbers to the more human impact of his job. He has coached and mentored talent across the Bank, worked closely with colleagues across the Group to drive the Bank’s employee-led network for disability and has experience of sitting on advisory boards, advising on diversity and inclusion.

We managed to get some time in his busy diary as he settles into island life, to find out more about him.

Tell us more about your background

I grew up in Yorkshire and moved to London about 20 years ago for university where I studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies which is part of the University of London. After university I applied to Coutts to join the graduate training scheme and I worked at Coutts in London for many years. I started off in client telephony with a placement in Coutts 24 and then I worked as an assistant for a couple of years. In 2008, once I’d completed my professional qualifications, I became a private banker, which I loved. I worked with some great clients, some of whom have since become good friends. Coutts are great at investing in their people and as I progressed my career I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to take on leadership roles both in the UK domestic and international businesses. I was also able to leverage the benefit that the bank enjoys being part of the NatWest Group, not only to help my clients but also my colleagues, and for a number of years I was Global Co-Chair of the Enable Network, which is the Bank’s employee-led disability network.  Most recently I led the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific markets at Coutts and was able to travel across those regions to meet clients and friends of the Bank based overseas who have a strong affinity to the UK. 

Tell us about your current role

I joined Coutts Crown Dependencies in the second half of last year and I’ve recently moved to Jersey. Although we have teams across a number of different jurisdictions, our base of operations and indeed most of our clients are based in Jersey. The best part of my role is that I get to meet clients on a regular basis and that gives me the opportunity to understand what’s important to them as we are continuously looking to improve. We also work closely with other professional advisers based locally to support our clients. So it made sense that we relocate to Jersey. Plus, who can resist the beauty of the island!

What are your first impressions?

I feel very fortunate. We’ve got a superb team here at Coutts Crown Dependencies, everyone is so committed to providing the highest levels of service and advice to our clients, and they are backed up by a great banking and investment proposition which supports our clients to manage everything under one roof. I’ve met some amazing clients too, we’ve got such a diverse client base and everyone has a great story to tell.  It’s our privilege to be able to support so many families on their wealth journey.

What’s in store this year?

We’ve got lots of exciting plans so it’s going to be a busy year. It’s really important to us to spend as much time as possible with our clients and we’re always challenging ourselves on what we can do better. We’re reopening our refurbished client offices at Broad Street around Easter-time and we’ve been giving a lot of thought as to how we can use this space to best support our local clients, networks and communities. We like to surprise and delight our clients with the unexpected, so watch this space!