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Swedish bank Handelsbanken opens head office in Yorkshire

Swedish bank Handelsbanken is to open its fifth UK regional head office in Leeds to support the bank’s 32 branches across Yorkshire and the North East.

London covers the capital and the South East, Manchester covers the North West, Birmingham covers the Midlands and Bristol covers the South West.

The Leeds head office will be run by former Hull branch manager Simon Lodge, who will be returning to his banking roots after five years’ heading up Handelsbanken’s regional operations in London and the South East.

The UK is the fastest-growing of Handelsbanken’s markets and its local branch network has almost almost trebled in size since 2008.

Around 32 of the bank’s 177 present UK branches will form the new Yorkshire & North East UK Regional Bank,‹ which is due to open on January next year.

Simon Lodge said: ‹“Having grown up and spent most of my banking career in the region, I understand why those looking for a local banking relationship find our experienced, empowered branch teams so refreshing.

“Since I joined Handelsbanken a decade ago, serving first Leeds then Hull branch customers, we have demonstrated our commitment to strong and lasting customer relationships all over the region.

“The warmth of response from customers and local professionals, coupled with the economic potential we see in communities across the region, has encouraged us to set up our fifth UK regional bank, with its head office to be located in Leeds.”

Anders Bouvin, Handelsbanken’s UK chief executive, said: “Our continuing growth in the UK comes down to a clear, long-term focus on customer satisfaction, prudent banking and cost efficiency.

“We will continue to invest in traditional, local banking to meet the demand we see from businesses and individuals across Britain.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .