Northern Bank (Danske Bank UK), headquartered in Belfast and a lender across the UK, has announced that Martin Stewart will become chair of its board.

Stewart has been a non-executive director at Danske Bank UK since 2020 and is currently the senior independent director on the board. He is a former director of banks, building societies and credit unions at the Bank of England, and is a visiting professor at the London Institute of Banking & Finance.

During his executive career, Stewart held senior positions at the Bank of England Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the then Financial Services Authority (FSA). He has two decades’ board-level experience as an executive, non-executive, adviser and regulator.

Stewart will replace Gerald Gregory, who is to leave the bank after nine years on the board.

Vicky Davies, CEO of Danske Bank UK (part of the Scandinavian Danske Bank Group), said: “On behalf of the board I want to thank Gerald for his tremendous leadership over the past decade – a period in which we became a stronger bank, delivering significant growth. These were also challenging years, which included navigating unprecedented levels of change across the industry, rising regulatory demands, increased competition, Brexit and the pandemic.

“Martin is a well-known and respected figure in the UK financial services sector and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him in his forthcoming new position as chair.”