Alliance & Leicester shake-up claims MD role
Alliance & Leicester’s managing director Peter McNamara is to leave the group after a major management shake-up at the mortgage bank.
The group, which announced plans to cut 700 back office jobs last month, said Mr McNamara had left by ‘‘mutual consent’’ after just 15 months in the role. His post will cease to exist under a new structure.
Mr McNamara, who joined the group from Lloyds TSB, could now get up to £570,000 in compensation from a contract that entitles him to up to 18 months salary if his employment is cut short.
A spokesman for the group said it had decided to rethink the roles of its executive directors to enable it to focus better on its strategy of encouraging existing customers to buy more financial products.
Alliance recently announced it was cutting 700 jobs through voluntary redundancies in a bid to cut costs.
The bank hopes to have reduced costs by £100 million by the end of 2003 and anticipates there being up to 1,500 voluntary redundancies between 2000 and 2003.
The group said its trading since the end of June had not been affected by uncertainty about the UK and world economies and mortgage volumes had continued to grow strongly.
But it added that in the current economic climate it would adopt a more conservative approach to growing the business.
Under the bank’s new structure John Windeler will remain as executive chairman with overall responsibility for the group’s strategy.
Richard Pym, formerly group finance director, has been appointed as managing director for retail banking and will take over operational responsibility for personal customers.
He will be replaced as finance director by David Bennett, while Richard Banks will continue as distribution director.
Peter Barton, deputy chairman and senior non-executive director, said: ‘‘Whilst recognising Peter McNamara’s talents and contribution in the past, the board of Alliance & Leicester believes that the new management structure is the best to take the business forward.’’
