A leading UK merchant banking group
At Close Brothers, we are here to help the people and businesses of Britain thrive over the long term.
Close Brothers is a leading UK merchant banking group providing lending, deposit taking, wealth management services and securities trading.
A FTSE250 company, we employ over 3,000 people, principally in the UK, and are listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Read about our history in The Origins of Modern Merchant Banking
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Our values
We remain committed to our traditional values of service, expertise and relationships alongside teamwork, integrity and prudence, to help the people and business of Britain thrive over the long term.
Our Distinctive Approach
- We focus on our core values which drive strong employee engagement and customer loyalty
- Across our businesses we have a deep knowledge of the industry sectors and asset classes we serve which allows us to provide firmer lending decisions and faster access to funds when clients need them the most
- We take a prudent approach to managing our financial resources. We maintain a prudent maturity profile, with diverse sources of funding, and a conservative capital position throughout the cycle
- Each of our businesses is a specialist in its own niche market, driven by a strong customer led proposition and long-term client relationships
- We apply our lending criteria consistently at all stages in the financial cycle which protects the quality and returns of our lending while providing continuity of service for our clients
- Our lending is predominantly secured, with conservative loan to value ratios, small loan sizes and short maturities
Our model
Close Brothers has an established reputation as a responsible bank with a distinctive, prudent business model and a long-term approach. We focus on providing straightforward products and services in sectors we know and understand, and delivering quality and reliability for our clients.
Through all market conditions, we remain focused on:
- Providing straightforward products and services
- Maintaining a prudent approach and strong financial position
- Building lasting relationships
Our leadership
Mike Biggs
Mike was appointed a director on 14 March 2017 and chairman from 1 May 2017. He is chairman of the Nomination and Governance Committee.
He has over 40 years’ experience of the financial services industry. He served as chairman of Direct Line Insurance Group plc from 2012 until August 2020. Mike was previously chairman of Resolution Limited, then a FTSE 100 UK life assurance business, and has acted as both chief executive officer and group finance director of Resolution plc. Prior to that he was group finance director of Aviva plc. Mike is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Adrian Sainsbury
Adrian joined the board of Close Brothers Group plc as chief executive on 21 September 2020.
From 2016 to September 2020, Adrian was managing director of Close Brothers' Banking division. Since August 2013 he has been a director of Close Brothers Limited, the group’s banking subsidiary. Adrian has previously held executive roles at Barclays, RBS and Bank of Ireland and was chief executive of ANZ Bank in Europe. Adrian has also been chairman of the Asset Based Finance Association, the UK and Ireland industry body.
Mike Morgan
Mike was appointed to the board as group finance director in November 2018.
From 2010 to 2018 Mike was chief financial officer of Close Brothers’ Banking division, and since 2010 he has been a director of Close Brothers Limited, the group’s banking subsidiary. Mike is a chartered accountant and chair of the ICAEW Financial Services Faculty Board and ICAEW Council member. Prior to joining Close Brothers, Mike held a number of senior roles at Scottish Provident and RBS, most recently as finance director of the Wealth Management Division of RBS.
Bridget Macaskill
Bridget was appointed a director in November 2013 and is chairman of the Remuneration Committee.
Bridget is a non-executive director of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, and chairman of Cambridge Associates LLC. Bridget was formerly chairman of First Eagle Holdings, Inc. and a senior adviser to First Eagle Investment Management LLC, of which she was president and chief executive officer. Bridget was also a trustee of the TIAA-CREF funds and a non-executive director of Jupiter Fund Management plc, Prudential plc, Scottish & Newcastle plc, J Sainsbury plc, Hillsdown Holdings plc and of the Federal National Mortgage Association in the US.
Lesley Jones
Lesley was appointed a director in December 2013 and is chairman of the Risk Committee.
Lesley has extensive banking experience, having previously held several line management positions within Citigroup and was group chief credit officer of Royal Bank of Scotland plc from 2008 to 2014. Lesley is also a non-executive director of Moody’s Investors Service Limited and N Brown Group plc. Lesley was previously a non-executive director of ReAssure Group plc (where she also chaired the Risk Committee) and Northern Bank Limited.
Oliver Corbett
Oliver was appointed a director in June 2014 and is chairman of the Audit Committee.
Oliver is chief financial officer of McGill & Partners Ltd. He was formerly chief financial officer of Hyperion Insurance Group Limited and finance director of LCH. Clearnet Group Limited and of Novae Group plc. Oliver is a chartered accountant and previously worked for KPMG, SG Warburg, Phoenix Securities (later Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette) and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he was managing director of investment banking. Oliver was also a non-executive director of Rathbone Brothers plc.
Peter Duffy
Peter was appointed a director in January 2019. Peter is chief executive officer of Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC and President of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers.
He previously served as chief executive officer of Just Eat Limited, having been interim chief executive officer and chief customer officer of Just Eat plc before that. Between 2011 and 2018, Peter held a number of senior roles at easyJet plc, including as chief commercial officer and group commercial director. Prior to that, Peter held roles at Audi UK Ltd and Barclays Bank plc over a period of more than 15 years. Peter is a member of the Risk Committee.
Sally Williams
Sally was appointed a director in January 2020. Sally is also a non-executive director of Lancashire Holdings Limited and of Family Assurance Friendly Society Limited (OneFamily), where she chairs the Audit Committee.
She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales. Sally has extensive risk, compliance and governance experience, having held senior executive positions at Marsh, National Australia Bank and Aviva. Prior to that, Sally held a number of roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in both their risk management and audit teams over a period of 15 years. Sally is a member of the Risk and Audit Committees.
Mark Pain
Mark was appointed a director in January 2021 and is senior independent director.
Mark is currently a non-executive director of AXA UK plc, where he serves on the Audit, Investment, Remuneration & Nomination, and Risk Committees. He is Chairman of London Square Limited and Empiric Student Property plc (where he is also Chair of the Nominations Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee). He has extensive finance, risk management and commercial experience, having held board positions at Barratt Developments plc and Abbey National Group. Mark has previously been a non-executive director of Yorkshire Building Society (where he served as Senior Independent Director), Ladbrokes Coral Group plc, Punch Taverns plc, Spirit Pub Company plc, Johnston Press plc, and Aviva Insurance Limited, among others.
Adrian Sainsbury
Adrian joined the board of Close Brothers Group plc as chief executive on 21 September 2020.
From 2016 to September 2020, Adrian was managing director of Close Brothers' Banking division. Since August 2013 he has been a director of Close Brothers Limited, the group’s banking subsidiary. Adrian has previously held executive roles at Barclays, RBS and Bank of Ireland and was chief executive of ANZ Bank in Europe. Adrian has also been chairman of the Asset Based Finance Association, the UK and Ireland industry body.
Mike Morgan
Mike was appointed to the board as group finance director in November 2018.
From 2010 to 2018 Mike was chief financial officer of Close Brothers’ Banking Division, and since 2010 he has been a director of Close Brothers Limited, the group’s banking subsidiary. Mike is a chartered accountant and chair of the ICAEW Financial Services Faculty Board and ICAEW Council member. Prior to joining Close Brothers, Mike held a number of senior roles at Scottish Provident and RBS, most recently as finance director of the Wealth Management Division of RBS.
Angela Yotov
Angela was appointed as Group General Counsel in August 2019.
Prior to joining Close Brothers, she was General Counsel at the fintech and peer-to-peer lending platform, RateSetter. She was previously at Barclays Bank PLC from 2006-2015 in the investment bank and wealth management divisions and prior to that she was at Latham & Watkins, having started her career at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Angela is also a non-executive director and trustee of Fareshare, the UK’s largest food redistribution charity.
Philip Yarrow
Philip qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand, specialising in Financial Services.
He joined Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in 1997 and was responsible for business development of electronic trading within the Global Equities Division. He joined Winterflood Securities in 2000 as Head of Electronic Trading and became a Director in 2002. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2015.
Rebekah Etherington
Rebekah joined Close Brothers in October 2009 as Group Head of Human Resources having previously been at Royal Bank of Scotland Group as Head of Human Resources for the banking and fixed income capital markets business in the Americas, with global responsibility for the RBS Sempra Commodities Trading companies.
Prior to that she worked at West LB, having started her professional career at Ernst and Young. Rebekah is also a trustee of the Cardinal Hume Centre.
Martin Andrew
Martin was appointed Chief Executive of Close Brothers Asset Management division in May 2008 having joined Close Wealth Management in 2005 as head of the Private Client Business.
Previously he was with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) where he worked in a range of roles both in the US and UK, including strategy, distribution and marketing, culminating in his appointment to run MLIM's European private client business.
Robert Sack
Robert joined Close Brothers in April 2015 as Group Chief Risk Officer coming from Barclays where he had previously been Group Head of Wholesale Risk and Chief Risk Officer for Africa.
With a background in credit risk, Robert has also held roles as Chief Credit Officer for Barclays International Division as well as working for Barclays Capital in the Americas and globally for Standard Bank across emerging markets.
Martyn Atkinson
Martyn joined Close Brothers in February 2019, as Group Chief Operating Officer, from Metro Bank where he was the Chief Information Officer.
Prior to that Martyn held a number of senior roles at Nationwide where he was latterly a Director of Business Transformation, Friends Life and Lloyds Banking Group where he led a range of technology and business transformation initiatives. Martyn started his professional career as a management consultant at Accenture.
Rebecca McNeil
Rebecca was appointed CEO of Retail for Close Brothers in July 2020.
From April 2018 to July 2020 Rebecca was CEO for Close Brothers Motor Finance, and sat on the board of Close Brothers Channel Island’s business. Prior to that Rebecca was chief operating officer of Barclays Business Banking, and previously held managing director roles heading up Barclays Business and Corporate Lending, and Barclays Asset Finance division. Before that she led Recoveries at GE Capital, and held partnerships, business development and sales roles at both GE Capital and American Express. Rebecca chaired UK Finance’s Corporate Committee for two years, and has held advisory roles with the Government’s Scale Up Taskforce and the Mayor of London’s Business Advisory Committee, and is a member of the Automotive 30% Club.
Frank Pennal
Frank joined the Property Finance division of Close Brothers in 1997, and became CEO in 2005.
He has been a member of the Bank’s Executive Committee since 2008. Prior to joining Close Brothers Frank led the Specialist Property Finance Unit at TSB and was previously at Hill Samuel, having started his career with Nat West Bank.
Neil Davies
From 2016 Neil has run the asset finance and leasing businesses within the Close Brothers Commercial division.
Since 2007 he has been a director of Close Brothers Leasing Limited. Previously Neil owned independent lenders and has over 30 years experience in business lending.
Close Brothers and Horse Racing
Charity and community
Treating customers fairly
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