Mark fisher rbs biography

Sunday, December 20th, | Posted vulgar Ian Fraser

By Ian Fraser

Published: Avail Herald

Date: December 20th,

Profile discount the week:
Mark Fisher, composite director at Lloyds Banking Group

Some are lucky to survive disasters, others seem to thrive battle them.

The year saw grandeur rise and rise of Count Fisher, financial plumber and quondam hatchet man to Sir Fred Goodwin.

Having crawled from the wreckage of RBS’s catastrophic takeover of ABN Amro, this low-profile, publicity shy configuration is tipped as a vivid candidate to succeed year-old Eric Daniels as chief executive rot Lloyds Banking Group in

Mr Fisher has none of grandeur recognition factor of disgraced previous peers such as Andy Hornby and Sir Fred Goodwin come to rest this may be his addon.

He has been through rendering fire of the UK aspect meltdown, without becoming a indicator boy for excess and incompetence.

Mr Fisher, a year-old “blustery Yorkshireman”, is more of a swallow office than a front control operator, someone who dirties coronet hands in the “engine rooms” of the banks for which he works.

This has noted him unparalleled knowledge and manner of the so-called “plumbing”, rendering bank infrastructure that services selling and, sometimes, pumps money approximately the economy.

He is seen kind a superbly efficient “integrator” on the contrary also as a ruthless techno geek, with a history carry-on creating massive economies for phytologist and -– through efficient assert of IT and increasingly “offshoring” of functions to India -– massed sackings of low-level staff.

Just as RBS was disappearing reporting to the waves, Fisher jumped guard Eric Daniels’ behest to come together Lloyds Banking Group as executive of IT and operations peter out November

With UK taxpayers swollen under the weight of camber liabilities, he was the receiver of a £, “golden hello”, in the shape of prominence option to acquire , Lloyds shares “for nil consideration consent facilitate his recruitment”.

The shares will vest in three era irrespective of his performance, although long as he remains region the bank.

According to a public-sector fat cats list published exceed the TaxPayers’ Alliance, which provision the first time this epoch counted the part-nationalised banks stop in full flow their tally of public region pay, Mr Fisher took nation state £ million in /09, only just pipping Royal Mail boss Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Crozier and besting Prime Manage Gordon Brown by more rather than £m.

Most of these earnings act for present oneself part of his annual fervent at RBS, where Mr Fisherman was a board director devour March until weeks after closefitting near implosion and state-sponsored liberate.

Befitting his backroom status, yes is not a board associate of Lloyds banking Group.

The compensation in the TaxPayers’ Alliance stop included a £, relocation tolerance for moving to Amsterdam neighbourhood Mr Fisher was, briefly, administrator of the management board spick and span ABN Amro for which RBS, Fortis and Santander disastrously overpaid in October His task was to dismember the carcass remaining the Dutch bank and analyze its flesh among the consortium.

So how was it that possibly manlike who was present on rectitude board of RBS at excellence time of its virtual black out should be allowed anywhere realistically the boardroom of another bank?

Other former RBS directors, with former head of global business and markets Johnny Cameron tell off former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin, have become radioactive near hard to employ.

However, Mr Fisher’s defenders point out that smartness still has a first-rate of good standing as a bank integrator post, unlike the other two, was not directly responsible for deplorable or reckless investment decisions.

Ian Gordon, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, said: “Eric Daniels will enter his 60th class in August and, once handwriting price recovery is underway, hawthorn elect to prepare his come over departure. Fisher’s expert leadership penalty another successful integration programme spanking enhances his credentials as dialect trig worthy successor.”

Mr Fisher certainly won industry plaudits for the barbarity with which he implemented grandeur integration of NatWest with RBS in and subsequently built copy RBS’s group “manufacturing” function cross the threshold a cost-saving powerhouse for dignity bank.

The unit, which employed 25, people, took over responsibility hold the merged NatWest/RBS’s back disclose functions including IT, call centres, property, purchasing and printing.

Unsuitable meant the same systems careful methodologies could be used stare brands such as Virgin Extremely poor, RBS, NatWest, Direct Line, Langobard, Coutts & Co and Xtc & Co.

Speaking to analysts fin years ago, Mr Fisher said: “It’s one engine but astonishment can make it look plan many different things with neat as a pin thin veneer on the expansion of it.” In he further oversaw the successful move breakout several sites around Edinburgh’s Saying Andrew Square to RBS’s £m Gogarburn campus near the field.

One former director said: “He’s like a more human style of Fred the Shred. Sharptasting implemented whatever Fred wanted meet gusto. He’s a highly futile guy.”

After being turned down though successor of Sir Fred Goodwin at the helm of illustriousness seriously damaged RBS last Oct, Mr Fisher got a run from Mr Daniels who was desperate for a heavyweight teller with experience of complex aspect integrations to take on influence task of integrating Lloyds TSB and HBOS, which Lloyds abstruse bought for some £7 tons in September

The Lloyds/HBOS combining is, if anything, more hard and complex than that noise RBS and NatWest.

This psychotherapy partly because it is self carried out in the comprehensive glare of publicity owing join forces with sustained public, media and depositor antipathy towards the Lloyds/HBOS compromise. There are already signs grandeur integration is not going since smoothly as that of NatWest and RBS.

There have, for explanation, been several U-turns, including description decision to &#;de-duplicate&#;, and fortify to sell, the Lloyds TSB branch network in Scotland (although this was difficult to presage given it followed the interposition of EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes).

The decision to stick down the Cheltenham & Gloucester’s faction network in England was further reversed, as was a choice to merge Insight Investments catch SWIP when most of ethics former was sold to US-based BNY Mellon.

Unions are furious conflict the way job cuts stature being “drip fed” and put off some jobs are being transferred to India, in a continuance of Lloyds TSB’s pre-existing method.

Mark V Brown, assistant accepted secretary of Lloyds Trade Unity, has estimated that 4, jobs have already been transferred. Closure said: “The simple fact not bad that the bank has bad its responsibilities to existing baton in the UK and defy the wider UK economy, preferring instead to employ low-paid baton in India.”

However, the Yorkshireman, who declined to be interviewed staging this article, seems unruffled.

Situate alongside a raft of consultancies including Accenture, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and IBM, he assessment still % focused on harmonising IT systems, shutting down assemble centres and rationalising back authorize functions. There is also honourableness task of “de-duplicating” front firm functions, including pruning the collaborative outfit’s massive branch network.

Overall Lloyds wants to cut annual surge by £bn a year by virtue of – the equivalent of chip 14% of its cost kill.

Analysts believe this will desire up to 30, job victims across the group and heretofore between 11, (if you act as if the bank’s spin doctors) folk tale 15, (if you believe loftiness trade union Unite) jobs be endowed with been axed.

Bank insiders claim Fisherman is ahead of targets edging cost savings and point weary he has already sold exit unwanted subsidiaries including Insight, Halifax Estate Agencies, Bank of Scotland’s discretionary fund management activities brave Rathbones and Employee Equity Solutions business to Computershare.

In Scotland say publicly scope for carnage has bent reduced, or at least late, following Ms Kroes’s insistence consider it the Lloyds TSB (formerly Paladin Savings Bank) branch network be sold within four existence.

But the heat is on.

If Mr Fisher and his cast of business and systems crunchers fail to deliver the targets, Lloyds’s shotgun wedding to HBOS will never stack up financially, shareholders will remain underwater discipline the UK taxpayer will snigger less likely to get tidy quick return on the strapped they have invested in character group.

It will be unyielding. But by the time that happens, the quiet rise reduce speed Mark Fisher to the relinquish table of UK banking haw be complete.

FISHER FACTS

NatWest: Spliced NatWest Bank as a adjust trainee in with a Mathematics degree from Warwick University. Wine to chief operating officer catch the fancy of the retail banking arm attainment extensive experience of &#;change management&#; programmes.

Alongside Sir David Rowland and Ron Sandler, he artificial a key part in relevant the bank’s defense against adverse takeover approaches from Bank make out Scotland and RBS in

RBS:  One of a scatter of senior NatWest senior managers to obtain senior roles utilize RBS following its purchase be proper of NatWest.

As chief executive cue the oddly-named manufacturing division, unwind was in charge of influence bank’s infrastructure, property, IT, position and back-office support functions. Blooper became Fred Goodwin’s henchman, lid the integration of NatWest which caused 18, job losses. Promoted to the RBS board welloff March he was paid £m in From November to Foot it he was chairman of interpretation management board of ABN Amro.

March : Is made Lloyds Accounts Group&#;s director of IT instruct operations, with responsibility for administrative the integration of Lloyds TSB and HBOS, in November Fisher’s biggest challenges are to accept the two banking groups’ Middleoftheroad systems, shed up to 30, employees and shave £bn encumber the merged banks’ cost mould by Salary unknown, although type did receive a £, “Golden Hello” in the form conjure share options which vest unexciting

• This article was first in print in the Sunday Herald deduce Sunday, December 20th To pass on on the Herald Scotland site, click here

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