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Jaime Gilinski Bacal is set to join the board of Metro Bank, as the UK lender undergoes a shake-up and restructuring following a £925mn deal through which the Colombian billionaire became its main shareholder.
Gilinski, whose investment vehicle owns a 53 per cent stake in Metro, would become a non-executive director once the formalities were completed, the challenger bank said on Wednesday.
The appointment comes at a turbulent time for the bank, which in November last year announced a restructuring plan that includes cutting a fifth of its staff and a push for greater digitalisation in an effort to shore up the bank’s balance sheet.
The restructuring is part of a broader £925mn refinancing package hastily agreed in October following emergency talks with regulators at the Bank of England. As part of the deal, Metro’s largest backer — Spaldy, Gilinski’s investment vehicle — injected £102mn and took its stake from just below 10 per cent to 53 per cent.
Gilinski, whose daughter Dorita also sits on the board, on Wednesday highlighted “opportunities for Metro Bank to grow” as he reiterated his support for the bank’s high-street focused business model and digitalisation plan. Spaldy is entitled to make one more appointment to Metro’s board under the terms of the rescue deal.
“I am looking forward to playing a part in the evolution of the bank as we build on the solid foundational work undertaken to date,” Gilinski said in a statement. “A customer-centric physical presence complemented by digital capabilities remains a unique offering and sets Metro Bank apart”.
The billionaire — who has bought more than a dozen banks and whose personal fortune is estimated by Forbes to be $5.4bn — told the Financial Times in October that he would first focus on cost-cutting before trying to grow Metro. Gilinksi, whose strategy has previously included using assets he bought as vehicles for further acquisition, backed the bank’s existing focus on face-to-face customer service through its branches.
Metro became the first new high street bank in the UK for a century when it opened its flagship branch in Holborn, in central London, in 2010. Billed as offering a “revolutionary” approach to banking and providing “unparalleled service and convenience”, Metro had branches — or what it described as “stores” — that were open seven days a week at a time when other lenders were retrenching from the high street.
Through its restructuring plan, Metro is looking to save £50mn per year and is reviewing its model of having branches open all week, in a slight shift of focus away from bricks and mortar. Metro also decided to retain a £3bn mortgage book that it had previously considered selling.
Gilinski’s appointment also comes in the midst of a wider management and board shake-up. Chief financial officer James Hopkinson is due to step down in the first quarter of this year and Metro has started to search for a successor.
Meanwhile, former board members Anne Grim, Ian Henderson and Monique Melis all decided to step down.
Robert Sharpe, chair of Metro Bank, said Gilinski’s appointment to the board “underscores the commitment he has long shown to the bank as a supportive, long-term shareholder”.
