A chartered banker from Fife has been appointed as the chief executive of Scotland’s oldest mutual building society.
Mark Thomson, who is originally from Larbert, is taking over at the helm of the Scottish Building Society after being named as successor to Gerry Kay, who stepped down last month.
The 47-year-old joined SBS as chief operating officer last year and his promotion comes at a critical time for the society after the completion of its merger with Century Building Society in February.
The new enlarged society, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh and has almost 70 branch and agency outlets across the country, manages assets of more than £388 million with a mortgage book standing at £277m.
SBS started life as the Edinburgh Property Investment Company in March 1848 and has traded under its current name since 1929.
The modern-day iteration of SBS offers a ranges of services including mortgages, savings and investment plans and inheritance and estate planning.
Mr Thomson, whose has previously worked at Bank of Scotland and RBS and was credit director at Scottish Widows before joining SBS, said it was a huge honour to be offered the opportunity to lead the society going forward.
“It is an enormous privilege to take over as chief executive of one of the world’s oldest mutuals,” he said. “There is no doubt that conditions remain challenging and I believe that now, more than ever, people need to know that they are dealing with an organisation that will do the right thing by them.
“I answer to 37,000 members and a dynamic board of directors, and I aim to build on the good work of recent years which has seen growth in assets and in mortgage business, and I know we can do this whilst continuing to treat our members fairly.”
SBS chairman Alexa Henderson said: “Mark has already proved a huge asset to the Scottish Building Society since he joined a year ago, and I am delighted to confirm his new position as chief executive.”