How Rob Lankey of GB Bank aims to provide economic boost for North

Rob Lankey, the chief commercial officer at the newly created GB Bank, would love to see disused industrial land in the North of England become productive again.

"I want to leave a long term legacy and the bank to have a real impact,” he said.

This work could include liaising with partners to provide lending for a development on a brownfield site which had been an eyesore for years because nobody had secured planning permission for an alternative use.

Mr Lankey joined the UK’s newest fully authorised bank after spending more than 30 years in the financial services sector. He has been hired to focus on accelerating the bank’s entry into residential and commercial bridging loans as well as commercial and buy to let mortgages.

“When I heard GB Bank had secured its full banking licence, I was intrigued,’’ he said “It sounded different; a bank with a purpose. I liked that. We’re designing the bank to change lives and build communities.”

Before joining GB Bank, Mr Lankey was managing director of specialist property finance company Chordis Capital. He was one of the four start-up members of Aldermore Bank, and played a leading role in launching and building its commercial mortgage and property development business from 2009. He has also held senior positions at Shawbrook Bank and Amicus Finance plc and was also the CEO of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers.

Earlier in his career, at the age of 28, he was the youngest ever executive manager at the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society. He is also a charity trustee and has been on housing association boards for more than 20 years. GB Bank, which was granted a full banking licence in August, is on a mission to boost economic growth in the UK’s regions.

Mr Lankey said: "We are building something that really will be a lending partner for property developers and investors. We are passionate about supporting the regions which are typically under served by larger banks.

"Many of the ‘challenger’ banks have also tended to drift towards London and the South East. This has left a distinct shortage of funding opportunities for SME (small and medium sized enterprise) developers and investors, particularly in the Northern and Midlands regions.

“We understand that each property project has its own unique set of features and challenges so we want to make the process easy for property developers. We are somebody who understand their business and talk their language.”

The bank’s cornerstone investor is the Teesside Pension Fund, which is financed through contributions from employers and employees, based upon a percentage of pensionable pay and supplemented by earnings from fund investments.

The fund is administered by Middlesbrough Council, through the Teesside Pension Fund Committee, which is made up of members of Middlesbrough Council, representatives of the other unitary authorities, trade unions and investment advisers.

Mr Lankey added: “The common theme about all our customers is that, typically, they have been underserved by mainstream lenders because their property finance solutions are more complex or need someone like us who can listen. Our property solutions can help a broad range of customers. They might be looking to convert a house into a student letting or be looking to adapt or build on the former site of a commercial building to make room for a residential development.

He added: “A lot of mainstream lenders use computer software to decide whether someone fits their lending criteria or not. If the mainstream lender says, ‘no’, many customers struggle to know where to go and how to access the financial expertise required. We are a relationship-led bank and use the regional knowledge and passion of our relationship managers, who work in conjunction with their credit partners, to ensure we can offer our customers a quick decision-making process and say ‘yes’ more of the time.

“We can help customers with complex lending requirements because we’ve assembled a lot of experience in the team from the start,’’ he added. “Initially the epicentre for our lending was around the Tees Valley region and since we received our full UK banking licence we have successfully widened our reach.

"Already around 30 per cent of enquiries have come from Yorkshire and we are looking forward to helping support the community developments who need it most.

“GB Bank has also just launched its savings accounts which help support these local, community developments. If you open a savings account with GB Bank you know that you can get a competitive savings rate and that your money is doing good for your region.”

Mr Lankey said GB Bank does not want to join a long list of development and bridging loan providers.

He added: “We want to be known for being different and helping projects that have a special positive impact on communities.”

He believes his experience as a non executive director in a local authority stock transfer housing association gives him an understanding of how to build sustainable homes and communities around them.

“The specialist lending industry is a bit like a small village, everybody knows everybody else,’’ he added. “I’ve got a lot of friends and connections in the industry that I have built relationships with over the years.”

There’s no question GB Bank regards itself as having a wider economic role.

Mr Lankey added: “It’s more than just providing the loan. It’s about flying the flag to change lives and support communities in the region.”