12 April 2021

New SME bank Recognise appoints Head of Savings and Payments.

Recognise Bank ("Recognise"), the UK's newest SME Bank, is pleased to announce the appointment of Damian Trussler as Head of Savings and Payments.

Damian will lead the launch of the Bank's personal savings products once the full banking licence is granted and then also develop the suite of Business Savings accounts which will follow later in 2021.

Damian is a financial services professional with 25 years of experience in the banking sector. He joins from Nationwide Building Society, where he has spent five years as Senior Manager, Product and Proposition within the Business Savings division establishing a high performing and talented team of Product Managers and IT Developers.

Prior to his role at Nationwide, Damian spent 19 years at HSBC in a variety of roles, latterly as a Senior Manager of Global Product, Global Trade and Receivables Finance.

Recognise Bank, a subsidiary of AIM listed City of London Group plc, will offer lending and deposit taking services to the UK SME sector and the personal and business savings markets. It recently commenced its lending activities employing the latest technology to deliver a fast, efficient and flexible lending platform to business owners and entrepreneurs.  

On his appointment, Damian commented, "I am delighted to be joining Recognise Bank as it enters a new and critical phase of its development. I am particularly looking forward to working with an experienced team who are focussed on delivering a better proposition for UK business."

Bryce Glover, Deputy CEO of Recognise said, "We are excited to welcome Damian to our team, his extensive banking knowledge and experience will be incredibly valuable as we execute on our business strategy to be the relationship bank of choice for UK SMEs."

Recognise's founding ethos - and the reason for the bank's name - is to focus on the SME community that has been so overlooked and neglected by mainstream banking. The bank will offer a relationship-led proposition delivered through dedicated Relationship Managers (RMs) based in London, Midlands, Manchester, and Leeds. The RMs will meet each client and provide a responsive and personalised service. Each will have deep knowledge of industry sectors and a genuine appreciation for SME challenges, particularly in the current economic climate.

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About Recognise Bank Limited

Recognise Bank was formed to provide financial services to the UK SME sector and the retail and business deposits market. It will target an underserved but growing business customer market offering a relationship-led, digitally enabled proposition.

The bank's efficient technology-driven operating base partners with leading fintech platforms to create a market leading SME service using the best in class technology. Recognise has a strong independent Board and executive team to support an ambitious executive team with over 280 years' experience of building SME banking portfolios. In five years' time it aims to reach 54,000 depositors and 5,100 borrowers. Recognise is a subsidiary of the City of London Group.

About City of London Group

City of London Group (AIM: CIN), is a forward-thinking organisation focused on serving the UK SME market, predominantly focused on lending to the SME market through its subsidiary, Recognise Bank.

In 2020, the Company raised £27 million to launch Recognise Bank which received AwR in November. The Board and leadership team have extensive experience in the financial services arena and expect to receive full authorisation for Recognise later in 2021.

For more information please visit: https://www.cityoflondongroup.com/