On a recent visit to the Whitelee wind farm outside Eaglesham, Paul Thwaite, chief executive of NatWest Group underlined his commitment to fostering growth among Scottish businesses. After all, this wind farm is operated by one of the bank’s largest clients, Scottish Power. Thwaite has close-cropped grey hair and generally wears a pink button down shirt. He is using a two-week fact-finding tour to deepen the bank’s networks and deepen its commitment to supporting its customers across Scotland.
Thwaite runs 68 branches and mobile banking vans in Scotland. They understand that it’s critical to remain visible and accessible to local businesses. In the early days of his career, he served UK corporate clients from Edinburgh. This work gave him unique insight into the regional market forces at play. Married to a Fifer, Thwaite understands the difficulties that Scottish businesses encounter. She’s especially alarmed by higher tax burdens and proposed hikes included in next week’s Westminster budget.
Yet even when describing these aspirational goals, Thwaite is wary of the dangers of being seen as too London-centric with his proposals. He wants to help ensure that NatWest Group genuinely relates to and understands its Scottish customers. He makes the case for a strong, market-oriented policy agenda to keep creating growth opportunities for the new businesses.
“I feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure that the bank is run in a thoughtful, safe, informed way… to learn the lessons from the past and run the bank really well for our customers and for our colleagues, because they have been incredibly loyal over the last 16 or 17 years, for which I’m very grateful,” said Thwaite.
Thwaite’s plan for NatWest Group is based on a framework of disciplined growth, simplification and focusing on building and maintaining a risk aware culture. He thinks this sort of proactive approach is leading to really good results, especially considering the persistent economic challenges that still persist today. The chief executive pointed out that many business owners are increasingly preoccupied with rising tax burdens, stating, “That’s definitely in business owners’ minds and at board tables.”
Despite the challenges, Thwaite remains hopeful about the future for Scottish businesses. He knows that none of that will matter if the economic policies that drive their operations don’t change. To do this, he’s rightly made ensuring that financial services is front and center in supporting these growth initiatives a priority. “Our role is to ensure that we’re supporting businesses who have growth aspirations, and I think it’s very important that the policy agenda is supportive of that,” he stated.
Her leadership begins as the financial sector faces profound change. He points out that AI is currently a nascent technology. AI will indisputably shape the future of banking, but despite all that, there’s still an abundant future for traditional banking if they seize it. “The successful banks of the future will combine very strong physical presence and service from bank colleagues at real moments of truth – whether that’s buying a home, buying a business, buying new premises, but combined with brilliant digital experience, because our customers want and expect that,” he explained.
Thwaite’s dedication to learning from past mistakes is clear when you hear him speak about his reaction to the financial crisis. He didn’t particularly know Fred Goodwin, who was the head of RBS during its troubled years. He does know just how deeply those events have affected those professionals in the financial sector. “Those who were young and in financial services at that time, and I include myself, have been shaped by the financial crisis,” he reflected.
Just last year, Thwaite pulled in nearly £5 million in salary. This year, he can increase that figure to about £7.8 million if he meets his bonus targets. Despite this significant remuneration, he recognizes the weighty responsibilities associated with leading a major financial institution during uncertain times.
