British Starling Bank is considering opening an office in Leeds or Manchester as it continues to increase its market share.
Its founder and CEO Anne Boden said the bank was keen to grow its services and talent across all regions and this could mean a Northern office in the next two years.
Read also: Curve COO Nathalie Oestmann leaves the company after 2,5 years
The bank, the first of the challengers to make a profit last year, has seen huge growth in both its personal and retail customers across the UK.
In the North West personal customer account numbers climbed 39% in the last year to 244,795 with 35% growth in business accounts to 46,862.
Starling now has a 7.5% share of the SME market and with a growing customer base across the North, Boden pointed out that fintech and new banks was not just for London and Shoreditch but it’s about doing “practical things for customers everywhere.”
“The big question is, will we have a site in Manchester or Leeds in the future,” she said.
“We haven’t decided that, but we are growing very, very fast and it’s very important that we can tap into as much talent as possible.
“At the moment, there is probably a 50/50 chance that we’ll do something in the next two years.”
She added: “Starling is different to other banks in that people reach out to us, they love the product, they love the ethos of the firm and want to be involved but they don’t live near one of our offices and so encourage us to open offices elsewhere.
“However, we need critical mass. We open offices where we think there is talent and where we can draw on the local communities. Where we have opened offices in Cardiff and Southampton have been successful and are growing.”
