THE boss of the company that owns the Clydesdale Bank has insisted the bank is not for sale - and that it will remain headquartered in Scotland.
However, John Stewart admitted the Clydesdale now had the ability to attract a "great offer".
Edinburgh-born John Stewart, chief executive of National Australia Bank group (NAB), said Clydesdale, once seen as the "sick man" of the NAB portfolio,
would now command a good price - but that none of the board now wanted to sell it.
And he said that Clydesdale had the turnaround potential to become the jewel in the crown of NAB, which also owns Yorkshire Bank in the UK, the eponymous National Australia Bank and the Bank of New Zealand.
Mr Stewart also vowed that Clydesdale's controversial cost-cutting programme, which involves the closure of 64 branches with the loss of 850 jobs in Scotland, was at an end.
Speculation had been rife that NAB was looking to sell Glasgow-based Clydesdale after Mr Stewart took charge in 2004.
Speaking at the GlobalScot conference in Edinburgh, he admitted that a minority of the NAB board had been keen to put Clydesdale on the market. However, there had been a change of attitude in recent years, he said. But he denied that the decision to retain the bank had come from a failure to sell it.
Mr Stewart, who was brought up in a Gorgie tenement and is a keen Hearts supporter, said: "Now the whole board is unanimous that it's not for sale. We could get a great offer but it's not on the market."
His comments came after he told the conference that the bank had made rapid progress since he took over at the helm. Clydesdale has seen a turnaround, with a massive first-half 88 per cent increase in lending in the south-east of England, year-on-year, and a 70 per cent rise in deposits.
Head of UK operations Lynn Peacock, who came to Clydesdale from Barclays, has streamlined the bank's European arm, by selling off its two Irish banks and combining Clydesdale and Yorkshire into one company.
Although Mr Stewart maintained the bank's head office would remain in Glasgow, he said the decision to focus on south-east England had boosted business.
Mr Stewart described Clydesdale as the "sick man of the group" when he took on his previous role as head of the group's European operations, hurt by a series of past leadership changes.
He said: "There was no morale - they [staff members] were completely depressed."
He added: "I'm now very optimistic about what the Clydesdale can do."
Mr Stewart said that while moving jobs to cheaper locations abroad would remain an option, it was not on the current agenda at NAB.
He said the ForEx scandal three years ago, which cost the bank a massive £98.3 million, had been a symptom of failing in the organisation.
"These were the symptoms. The disease was not attracting and retaining the right people.
"There was a downright unhealthy culture," he said.
The full article contains 527 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
