Masthaven COO retires

Aitken has been with Masthaven since 2012 after working for the likes of Merrill Lynch, Kensington and Southern Pacific.

Masthaven chief operating officer Stuart Aitken will retire in May 2016 to be replaced by Al Southall.

Aitken has been with Masthaven since 2012 after working for the likes of Merrill Lynch, Kensington and Southern Pacific.

Jon Hall, managing director of Masthaven Bank, said: “I would like to thank Stuart for all of his hard work launching Masthaven Secured Loans and then building the business to become a respected lender in the second charge market.

“Stuart has also been a key part of the team who has taken Masthaven to its bank authorisation.”

Aitken said: ‘‘It has been a pleasure and a privilege after all these years in the industry, to get the opportunity to help build Masthaven, and most recently to help the business to obtain its banking license.

“I am immensely pleased for Andrew, Jon and the management, and for all of the great people at Masthaven, who can look forward to what I am certain will be huge success through this new chapter in the life of the business.”

Aitken’s successor Southall has held senior positions at JP Morgan, SBC Warburg, Merrill Lynch, Merrill Lynch HSBC, Aldermore Bank as chief information officer and most recently Close Brothers where he was head of business applications in its banking division.

He was also involved in three banking start-ups, including establishing a greenfield retail bank in the Czech Republic.

Southall added: ‘‘I very much look forward to building on the successes that Stuart has been part of.

"I am extremely excited to have joined at such an important time for Masthaven Bank.”