The Hon Bruce Baird MP, Member for Cook, and key members of the local business community welcomed BankWest to Caringbah on Thursday night at the official opening of the BankWest Business Banking Centre at 355 - 359, the Kingsway.
BankWest, part of the HBOS Australia group, is providing specialised banking services to businesses in the area and this is a significant milestone in BankWest's expansion plans.
At the official opening Gary Johnson, Head of Commercial Banking and Julie Rynski, Head of Business Banking, said the new centre is another key milestone in BankWest's blitz on key business banking markets across Australia.
"We are the fastest growing business bank in Australia because our customers know we're trying harder than the competition to help their business grow. We've listened to feedback from businesses in many different areas and identified a clear need for specialised banking services across various industry sectors," Mr. Johnson said.
"Caringbah was a natural choice for our Business Centre because of its strong economic growth. The diverse mixture of commercial and industrial areas influenced our decision to open this dedicated Business Banking Centre," Ms. Rynski added.
Bruce Baird, Federal Member for Cook, welcomes the establishment of the BankWest Business Banking Centre in Caringbah.
"It's great to see BankWest bringing new competition to the Shire and investing in the Caringbah high street. This is a win-win for the Shire. BankWest see the inherent opportunities delivered through the Shire's high rate of home ownership and booming small business sector and locals will win through better deals and services from the new competition," said Mr Baird.
BankWest has a growth strategy to become a significant force in Australian financial services, through a strategy focusing on driving competition and change in the banking industry, and has enjoyed considerable success over the last few years. BankWest is stepping up its assault on the Australian banking industry with the roll-out of a new retail and commercial banking network. It is the largest branch expansion program ever undertaken in Australia and will challenge the dominance of the Big Four banks.
There will be 160 new branches in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia servicing the needs of both retail customers and businesses. The first new BankWest stores are now open in the Sydney suburbs of Parramatta, Mount Druitt and Burwood and a further five New South Wales stores are set to open before the end of 2007 - one of them in Miranda.
The team at Caringbah currently consists of Warren O'Brien, Senior Commercial Business Development Manager, Commercial Business Development Managers; Stuart Bush, Peter Ostroman and Rob Greentree and Relationship Manager Mauro Marinozzi. Wendy Sampson and Jasmina Stojanovski are the Business Banking Business Development Managers and they are all supported by a team of professional bankers.
"We have made a significant investment in our future here in Caringbah. We have a modern business bank premises with the latest technology and systems and, more importantly, we have recruited the very best bankers in the local area," Ms. Rynski said.
