Ulster Bank executive Andrew Healy is set to take over the helm at National Irish Bank (NIB) from next September.
NIB's parent, Danish player, Danske Bank, made the announced yesterday. Mr Healy, who is managing director of Ulster's retail operation in Northern Ireland will succeed John Trethowan, who has been acting chief executive at NIB since Danske took it over last February.
News that NIB's new parent appointed someone from outside the bank came as no surprise to the industry. Sources said that there was no great interest in the post from within the organisation itself.
"What Danske was looking for was someone with expertise in the Irish banking market, who would also have a good understanding of its own plans for this country," one observer said yesterday.
Mr Healy will have to put distance between the institution and the revelations of tax evasion and overcharging that have marred its image in recent years.
NIB's chief executive designate is from Dublin and is in his mid-thirties. He has spent all his career at Ulster Bank, where he rose rapidly through the ranks to take one of the key retail positions at the financial institution.
Colleagues at Ulster describe him as extremely focused. "He is hugely growth driven and very target driven," one said yesterday.
"He's a big believer in practical solutions, he will think things through, plan a route and go after it, but he's not afraid to change that if it's not working." They stress that colleagues have also found him easy to work with.
Sources also say that his approach to the job at Ulster has been customer oriented, hence his success at the retail side of the bank.
"He's a success in the bank because he was always prepared to go that extra yard," one co-worker said yesterday. "He arrives an hour before everyone else in the morning and leaves an hour after them. If he had something to do, he did it.
"When other people were going out for pints, he was studying for his banking institute exams." Mr Healy obtained a range of extra qualifications by studying in his spare time.
Outside work, his interests include Gaelic football, and he is said to be a skilled player.
NIB's main union, the Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA), welcomed the appointment yesterday. General secretary Larry Broderick said it has already worked closely with him in Ulster Bank.
Ulster itself yesterday announced that it has appointed AIB corporate banking international general manager, Robert Gallagher, as a director and chief executive of its corporate and financial markets division.
