Provident Financial’s takeover suitor Non-Standard Finance upped the ante on Monday, saying its choice for Vanquis Bank chairman was “manifestly better” than the current candidate.
Vanquis Bank is Provident’s main credit card division, and a larger proportion of the firm than the better-known doorstep lending business.
John van Kuffeler, chief executive of Non-Standard Finance, said former Co-op Bank chief Niall Booker, who NSF wants to be Vanquis Bank chair if it wins the takeover struggle, had “a lot more edge” than Vanquis’s new chair Robert East, who was named on Saturday.
“[Booker’s] track record is absolutely first class,” van Kuffeler said, upping his criticism of Provident’s hiring spree, saying they are “not the right people”.
Provident has appointed East and Graham Lindsay to the board.
Lindsay was on Wonga’s board when it collapsed into administration. East is a director at Welcome Finance, owned by a firm called Cattles which liquidated in 2016.
Provident also hired Neil Chandler as managing director of Vanquis Bank.
