BankWest, part of the HBOS Australia group, has appointed experienced corporate banker Stephen Ward as West Australian State Manager Corporate Banking to lead and invigorate an aggressive growth strategy for its WA Corporate Banking.
As Australia's fastest growing business bank, fuelled by an aggressive national recruitment strategy, Stephen's appointment is a key strategy in further enabling BankWest to grow its WA Corporate Banking presence.
Head of Corporate Banking, Bob Beard, said BankWest was looking to become a leading corporate and commercial bank in Australia.
"Stephen's appointment demonstrates BankWest's commitment to Corporate Banking in Western Australia," Mr Beard said. "We have already demonstrated our strength in Property and Commercial Banking in Western Australian and we now want to take this success to the Corporate Banking sector."
Stephen is a highly skilled and well respected corporate banker in Western Australia with 30 years in the banking industry. After many years with ANZ, in senior leadership roles within Corporate and Institutional banking in WA as well as Victoria, Stephen's most recent role was as Director of BNP Paribas (Western Australia) where he oversaw the bank's brand and business growth.
Stephen said the existing talent in the West Australian Corporate Banking team was strong and BankWest had a high quality customer base that he planned on expanding.
"The new executive management team in Corporate Banking will focus on growth in 2006/07," Mr Ward said. "We are well positioned to grow and we have recently begun a recruitment drive to grow our capabilities."
"BankWest has a highly recognised brand in Western Australia and we intend on using this to recruit the best people for our Corporate Banking division."
Stephen said BankWest was well placed to attract the right kind of staff to its Corporate Banking division because of its backing by HBOS Australia and HBOS plc.
"The backing of HBOS Australia allows BankWest to leverage off the strength, capability and resources of a parent that has demonstrated a huge commitment to the Australian market.
Stephen said BankWest had a competitive edge in the Western Australian Corporate Banking sector as its head office and key administrative functions were based in WA.
"For Corporate and Business Banking, this is significant as our credit group is Western Australian based and this assists our clients as we have a firm understanding of the market - something important for such an isolated market, such as Western Australia," Mr Ward said.
"Our key focus is on helping businesses grow, and in so doing, growing our business.
Stephen has an MBA, is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and a Member of Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSA).
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About BankWest Business
BankWest Business provides a full range of core and specialist business banking products and services to all business market segments from small business to large corporates. From market leading transaction and investment accounts through to flexible business loans and sophisticated Financial Market and International Trade products, we are an organisation committed to making a meaningful difference in the financial services marketplace with our simple and straightforward products. Our energetic approach and attitude aims to reject the status quo and present a significant challenge to the conventions and the competition.
BankWest Business has a presence in capital cities, rural areas and regional locations throughout Australia. We focus on key markets including Property Finance, Small Business, Commercial, Rural and Regional and Corporate.
We also offer a flexible range of products and competitive lending guidelines across specialist industries such as Aged Care, Childcare, Hotels/Accommodation, Franchise and Pharmacy. We recognise the value of the going concern of a business, along with the value of its people and brand, not just its fixed assets or balance sheet.
Our business banking managers have been selected for their industry knowledge and experience and take the time to get to know their customers' business to find the best products and services to meet their needs.
BankWest has been around for more than 100 years and is now part of the HBOS Australia group with assets of over $39 billion. Backed by our parent company HBOS plc, one of the world's largest financial services groups, we are providing a fresh customer experience and challenging the Australian market. BankWest is the fastest growing business bank in Australia*, and because we are growing, we will try harder to help grow your business.
*Measured by market share growth, number of new managers hired and number of new Business Banking Centres opened.
