Rothschild's new head of regional operations

Mr Forbes told the Yorkshire Post that he wanted to "create some space" in his life and will spend more time on non-executive director roles, including his new chairmanship of Northern Ballet Theatre.

He said: "I am looking for one or two additional meaningful non-executive directorships, and I needed to make space for them.

"It was also important to me to remain loyal to Rothschild after 21 years looking after the Yorkshire and North-East for the bank and its clients. This solution works very well for both of us."

Mr Forbes added: "I will remain with the bank for the foreseeable future with responsibility for certain client relationships and for marketing initiatives."

Rothschild has nine professional staff in Leeds, primarily covering Yorkshire and the North East. The UK business employs 300 staff and has offices in London, Birmingham and Manchester. Last summer, Mr Forbes renewed the lease on the Leeds office in Park Row until 2015.

In an interview, Mr Griffiths said: "Rothschild is very committed to Leeds and has been for a long time. We are building on an excellent platform and at the same time we have not lost the expertise and knowledge of David as and when we require it.

"We are trying to make things happen, working with big and small groups who want to grow and develop or require some restructuring or some refunding or there might even be some IPOs out there. There is a lot of exciting opportunity out there for us to have a look at.

"We are very much plugged into not just London but a global practice. It's a family-owned business and I think we can bring a wealth of experience to bear from an office that might be 30 or 50 minutes from a client. That's our unique selling proposition."

Speaking about the regional economy, he said: "There's been a noticable uptick in confidence. A lot of the strengthening and restructuring that was required last year has been carried out.

"There are still a lot of businesses that are looking at ways of improving their capital base. There's a big grey cloud on the horizon regarding the possible double-dip. There's some pain to be taken in the economy as the deficit is addressed.

"But it is a very resilient market, both Yorkshire and the North-East. There are some fantastic businesses out there who have weathered the storm well and who are well placed to take advantage of some great opportunities going forwards."

Despite positive news about a rebound in exports and a rise in factory output and retail sales, he said there is a one-in-three chance of a double-dip recession.

"In any event, growth is going to be steady. We are not in for a spectacular rebound," he added.

Mr Griffiths, who comes from Sunderland, read economics at York University and trained as an accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Newcastle. He worked with Reg Vardy, Hambros and KPMG before joining Rothschild.

The father-of-two said he is motivated by the challenge of dealing with lots of complex problems and loves working with people who share the desire and ambition to make things better.

He said the Rothschild brand represents integrity and high quality, robust advice. The Rothschild empire was founded two centuries ago by five brothers who developed businesses in five European capitals.

Changing times

David Forbes opened the Leeds office of Rothschild with two other people in 1995.

Mr Forbes told the Yorkshire Post he would now be spending more time in non-executive roles.

He is already on the board of Vertu Motors and is the new chairman of Northern Ballet Theatre. He said he would look at two or three more if they were meaningful.

Looking back over the last decade and a half, he said: "Yorkshire has got more international.

"There are some businesses which have grown incredibly well. Others have fallen by the wayside. Our business has grown many times larger.

"A lot of businesses are now owned by venture capital houses which was probably not the case 15 years ago. A good number of businesses will have bought overseas and become international businesses."