GB Bank appoints new Chair

GB Bank has announced it has appointed Mark Sismey-Durrant as its new Chair.

Sismey-Durrant joins the Middlesbrough-based bank after spending over 40 years in the UK banking sector, with the majority of that time spent in senior roles. He replaces former GB Bank Chair, Mike Kirsopp, who has stepped away from the business to return to an executive career.

For 23 years, Sismey-Durrant operated as CEO at three fast growing UK banks, the last of these being Hampshire Trust Bank, where he led a private equity backed management buyout, restructured and scaled the business profitably, enabling it to raise growth capital of £100m.

Before that he served as CEO at Sun Bank and then Heritable Bank where he executed diversification strategies in the specialist lending arena, secured Tier 1 & 2 capital, grew balance sheets to £1.3bn and generated pre-tax profits of £17m and £21m respectively.

Sismey-Durrant is an experienced board director and has served on the board of many banking and financial services companies, including his current Chair position at digital specialist, CashPlus Bank. He is also Senior Independent Director at PCF Bank.

GB Bank CEO and co-founder Stephen Lancaster said “We are thrilled to have secured Mark’s services as Chair of GB Bank. His vast experience and expertise are fundamental for the business as we look to progress to the next stage of our development.

“We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Mike Kirsopp as he leaves us. Mike has been a valued and integral member of the team for almost three years, helping GB Bank in securing the full banking licence in August 2022, and the ongoing development of the business since then.

“We are incredibly grateful for Mike’s commitment to GB Bank and he leaves with our very best wishes as we welcome Mark as our new Chair.”