Vernon Hill, founder and chairman of Metro Bank, is departing the beleaguered lender just weeks after saying he would “probably die” in the job.
Metro shares have crashed 90% since a £900 million accounting error was revealed at the start of the year.
Last week Metro pulled a £250 million bond sale aimed at shoring up its balance sheet after not enough investors signed up despite a tempting 7.5% interest rate.
Pressure had mounted on both Hill and chief executive Craig Donaldson, who offered to resign.
Hill had earlier said he would stand down as chairman, but refused to take a “back seat” and insisted he would stay on the board.
Today, in a stock market announcement, senior independent director Sir Michael Snyder said: “The board shares Vernon’s view that Metro Bank has now reached a point where an independent chairperson is appropriate to oversee the next stage of our journey.”
Hill, a colourful character who pledged to shake-up UK banking with strong customer service, has 3.5% of the shares. The 74-year-old claimed in an interview recently that he loved Metro so much that he would never leave, saying: “I founded Metro Bank and I’ll probably die there.”
Snyder added: “Vernon is the inspiration behind Metro Bank, the first high street bank to open in the UK in over 100 years. It is thanks to his vision and leadership that we have grown to 70 stores around the country, serving over 1.8 million customer accounts, and we’ve twice been ranked as the number one bank for overall quality of service for personal banking.”
At first, the growth of Metro Bank impressed the City and US investors. Lately, Hill’s tenure has been controversial. In particular he was criticised for a £4.5 million payment from the bank to his wife Shirley for marketing services.
While Donaldson’s offer to stand down was declined by the board, he remains a damaged figure. Today a spokesman said: “He continues in his role as CEO and remains committed to Metro Bank.”
The shares fell another 4% today to 173p, which leaves the company valued at £294 million.
The stock peaked at over 4000p in March 2018, since when the decline has been dramatic.
Hill will leave at the end of the year. The bank has started the search for a new chairman.
