HSBC is replacing the chief executive of its UK business, announcing that longtime head Ian Stuart will take on a newly created role at the bank in the latest reshuffle of its senior ranks since Georges Elhedery took the helm in September.
Stuart has been appointed group customer and culture director, a role created “to ensure the customers’ voice is embedded at the heart of the bank’s strategy”, HSBC said on Tuesday.
He will take up the position once the bank finds a new chief executive for the UK unit, where HSBC is one of the country’s largest retail banks with more than 15mn customers. Stuart has led the ringfenced bank since 2017, after joining as head of its commercial banking business in the UK and Europe more than a decade ago.
Elhedery has moved to restructure the bank rapidly since taking over as group chief executive in September, merging HSBC’s commercial and investment banking units and leaving businesses where the bank does not consider itself a market leader.
A key part of his strategic overhaul has been to consolidate senior roles with shared responsibilities and to cut jobs as he seeks savings for the lender. HSBC has projected $1.5bn in annual cost savings from Elhedery’s restructuring.
Senior executives who have left since Elhedery took the helm include HSBC’s head of wealth and personal banking Nuno Matos, a former rival to Elhedery for the top job at the bank, as well as private banking head Annabel Spring and Celine Herweijer, the group chief sustainability officer.
Stuart has had a 40-year career in banking, including six years as head of the corporate banking division at Barclays. Before that, he spent more than two decades at NatWest.
“In this new role, Ian will consistently challenge the group operating committee in shaping the culture, ensuring that the voice of the customer informs every decision and action we take,” Elhedery wrote in a statement.