Alison Rose (banker)
Alison Rose | |
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Born | Alison Marie Rose November 1969 (age 54) |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | St Aidan's College, Durham, Durham University |
Occupation | Banker |
Title | Former CEO, NatWest Group |
Term | 2019–2023 |
Predecessor | Ross McEwan |
Successor | Paul Thwaite |
Spouse | David Slade[1] |
Children | 2 |
Dame Alison Marie Rose-Slade DBE (née Rose; born November 1969[2]) is a British banker. She was chief executive of NatWest Group from November 2019 to July 2023 and the first woman to lead a major lender in the UK.[3][4] She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 Birthday Honours.[5]
Early life
[edit]Rose was born in 1969.[6] She grew up overseas in a military family, settling back in the UK when she was 15.[7][8][9][10] She graduated with a bachelor's degree in history from Durham University in 1991.[11][12]
Career
[edit]Rose started her career as a graduate trainee with NatWest in 1992.[11]
She was appointed a member of RBS's executive committee on 27 February 2014.[13] In October 2014, as head of commercial and private banking at RBS, she announced a new plan for the bank to bring more women into decision-level and board-level positions.[14] In August 2015, she encouraged her managers to reconnect with the SMBs part of their clientele.[15]
In April 2018, Rose was appointed to the board of Great Portland Estates as a non-executive director.[16] She stepped down in July 2023.[17]
In September 2018, she was nominated to lead the HM Treasury's review focusing on barriers for women in business.[18] In November 2018, she became deputy chief executive of NatWest Holdings.[19][20]
In September 2018, the UK Government commissioned Rose to lead an independent review of female entrepreneurship.[21] In March 2019, the 'Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship' found that only one in three UK entrepreneurs is female and less than one per cent of UK venture funding goes to all-female teams.[22][23][24]
In April 2019, Rose was "widely-tipped" to succeed Ross McEwan as CEO.[11][19][25]
Rose was the chief executive of commercial and private banking at Royal Bank of Scotland Group and deputy chief executive of NatWest Holdings.[11][26] In September 2019, it was announced that she would succeed Ross McEwan as CEO of RBS Group on 1 November 2019, making her the "first woman to lead major UK lender".[27] RBS Group was re-named NatWest Group in 2020.
In October 2021, Rose was awarded an honorary degree from Durham University.[28]
On 26 July 2023, Rose resigned as chief executive of NatWest Group with immediate effect following the bank's decision to close Nigel Farage's bank account at Coutts.[29] It was alleged that Rose had ultimate responsibility for the closure of Farage's accounts, but an independent investigation by law firm Travers Smith found she 'played no part' in the decision by the bank.[30][31][32] Rose resigned admitting a "serious error of judgement" following a discussion with Simon Jack, the Business Editor of BBC News, on the evening before the BBC published an article saying Farage's bank accounts were closed "for commercial reasons" on 4 July.[33][34] She received £2.4 million as a fixed pay package in line with the bank's good leaver rules but did not receive share awards and bonuses of £7.6 million.[35]
In October 2023, Information Commissioner's Office initially ruled that Rose had breached data protection laws when discussing the closure with the BBC, but in November 2023 withdrew its comments stating that the ruling related only to NatWest and issued an apology to Rose.[36][37] In the same month, Rose was cleared of misconduct by NatWest following the completion of an independent review by Travers Smith.[32]
Rose was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the financial sector, and later that month she was given an honorary degree by the new Chancellor of York University Dr Heather Melville.[5][38][39]
In February 2023, Rose was appointed chair of the Government’s Energy Efficiency Taskforce.[40] She stepped down in July 2023.[41] In July, she was appointed to the Government’s Business Council by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.[42]
She is the former chair of the McLaren/Deloitte advisory council and the vice chair of Business in the Community.[43][44]
In July 2024, Rose was appointed as senior advisor to Charterhouse Capital Partners.[45]
Personal life
[edit]Rose is married to UBS banker David Slade, and they have two children, a daughter and a son.[11][8][46] They live in Highgate, London.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ Profile, listofceo.com. Accessed 20 June 2023.
- ^ Companies House profile. Accessed 30 December 2022.
- ^ "RBS appoints Alison Rose as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director". www.natwestgroup.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Farrell, Sean (20 September 2019). "Alison Rose to become first female RBS chief executive". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ a b Notice of damehood, theguardian.com. Accessed 30 December 2022.
- ^ "Alison Rose". RBS. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ "The Big Interview: Alison Rose, highest-ranking woman in RBS". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ a b c "Secrets of my success: RBS private banking boss Alison Rose". Evening Standard. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ Rose, Alison (25 August 2016). "Secrets of my success: RBS private banking boss Alison Rose". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ "The Big Interview: Alison Rose, highest-ranking woman in RBS | The Scotsman". 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "The most powerful woman in UK banking unveils her plans for the future". HeraldScotland. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Durham University Alumni". Twitter. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
We are incredibly excited to be welcoming alumna and NatWest Group CEO, Alison Rose (History, St Aidan's College, 1991) back on campus on Monday 1 November 2021.
- ^ "Alison Rose | RBS". www.rbs.com. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ Treanor, Jill (3 October 2014). "RBS wants more women in senior roles". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ Wallace, Tim (9 August 2015). "RBS bosses ordered to go out and meet small firms". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Great Portland Estates plc appoints non-executive director | GPE". www.gpe.co.uk. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Changes to Board Composition". www.londonstockexchange.com. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Treasury launches review into barriers for women in business". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ a b "Alison Rose's move sparks RBS chief chatter". Evening Standard. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "UPDATE 1-RBS high-flier Alison Rose takes on NatWest Holdings job..." Reuters. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Treasury launches review into barriers for women in business". GOV.UK. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Alison Rose (8 March 2019). "The Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship". GOV.UK. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
- ^ "I started a business accidentally". 8 March 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Women's work: interview with RBS's Alison Rose". Holyrood Website. 4 October 2019.
- ^ Treanor, Jill (28 April 2019). "Rose's moment to bloom". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ Driscoll, Margarette (30 October 2018). "Alison Rose on the price of being a successful woman in finance". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2019 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Jones, Huw (20 September 2019). "Alison Rose gets top job at RBS, first woman to lead major UK lender". Reuters. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ University, Durham. "Alison Rose - Durham University". www.durham.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "NatWest boss steps down with immediate effect over Nigel Farage bank account leak". Sky News. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
- ^ Johnston, Neil (18 July 2023). "Dame Alison Rose: the bank boss who steered Coutts' diversity drive". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
- ^ "Key findings from Phase 1 of Travers Smith review | NatWest Group". www.natwestgroup.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ a b Sweney, Mark (10 November 2023). "NatWest scraps £7.6m of Alison Rose's payout after Farage scandal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Gordon Rayner, Daniel Martin, Louisa Clarence-Smith, "NatWest boss under pressure over Farage bank scandal", The Daily Telegraph, page 1, 20 July 2023, on Twitter, accessed 20 July 2023
- ^ Gordon Rayner, "Bank chief Dame Alison sat next to BBC journalist night before he tweeted claim about Nigel Farage", The Daily Telegraph, 19 July 2023, accessed 20 July 2023 (subscription required)
- ^ Race, Michael (10 November 2023). "Ex-NatWest boss Alison Rose loses out on £7.6m after Nigel Farage row". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ Tom Witherow; Ben Martin (25 October 2023). "NatWest's Alison Rose broke data law in Nigel Farage fiasco". The Times. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
The former chief of NatWest twice breached data protection laws
- ^ Makortoff, Kalyeena (6 November 2023). "ICO apologises to ex-NatWest chief over claim she broke privacy law on Farage". theguardian.com. Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ "No. 63918". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2022. p. N9.
- ^ "University of York welcomes new Chancellor Dr Heather Melville". University of York. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- ^ "Alison Rose appointed to help accelerate energy efficiency". GOV.UK. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Alison Rose quits government's Energy Efficiency Taskforce after shock NatWest departure". www.businessgreen.com. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Major business leaders join PM's new Business Council to turbocharge economic growth". GOV.UK. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Alison Rose | RBS". www.rbs.com.
- ^ Brassleay, Andrew (12 March 2020). "Alison Rose". Business in the Community. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Walker, Owen (11 June 2024). "Ex-NatWest Boss Alison Rose joins UK buyout firm Charterhouse". www.ft.com. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Jenkins, Patrick (13 October 2017). "Pain-free succession at HSBC not as fun as last time". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 July 2023.