One of Britain’s oldest businesses is celebrating the successful launch of its latest venture.
With a rich heritage steeped in horse racing, Weatherbys, which has its headquarters in Wellingborough, has launched a new division aimed at businesses.
Experienced Northamptonshire banker Robert Davey says Weatherbys Business Bank will bring benefits to companies operating in the county and beyond. Robert has joined Weatherbys as a key part of the team behind the new Business Bank and is particularly keen to attract clients from his home area.
Bringing more than 20 years of banking experience to Weatherbys Business Bank, Robert has already been supporting Northamptonshire businesses since 2009. At Weatherbys, he will work closely with local businesses to build trusted relationships, delivering robust, risk-managed solutions aimed at enabling them to thrive.
Acknowledging how this latest business development is exciting for the Weatherbys group, he’s delighted to be back working in his home county, where his banking career began.
Robert said: “With the launch of the new Business Bank there are now four arms of Weatherbys Bank, including the Racing Bank, Private Bank and Arkle Finance. I’m passionate about delivering exceptional service and value to clients and excited to be working at Weatherbys.”
Weatherbys has been a family-owned business since 1770 when its founder took the position of Secretary to the Jockey Club. It has evolved over seven generations to become a group of companies operating in banking and asset fi nance. With over 250 years of heritage and the stability of family ownership it takes pride in being a people-fi rst bank focused on business, not bureaucracy. Robert said: “It’s a bank that prioritises people ahead of process and really knows its clients and their needs.”
Having a Northamptonshire head office, alongside offices in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, also appealed to Robert, who lives with his family near Thrapston and has previously held high-profile banking roles with NatWest, Barclays and Metro Bank
His professional journey has included senior strategic roles where he has contributed to shaping business direction and enhancing product offerings to meet evolving client needs. He has also held several non-executive roles, sharing strategic insights and bringing business acumen to support educational institutions, including Northampton College.
In his new role as Senior Business Banker, Robert relishes the career challenges and opportunities the new Weatherbys Business Bank brings.
“Th e size of the business and it being family-owned means there’s the ability to shape things and direct the future as there is not the bureaucracy there is within many larger banks,” he said.
“It is a blank canvas, as we won’t be a mass market bank. We want to work with good people in line with our values and we often find ourselves dealing with quite complex scenarios, be that through ownership, structure or banking needs.”
Private banker Chris Shortland-Ford, who will join Robert Davey in Northamptonshire.
The new arm of the organisation provides banking for small and medium enterprises, commercial businesses and larger corporates. The criteria to become a Weatherbys Business Bank client is £2m turnover or deposits above £1m.
Robert added: “The core focus is making the business banking personal, so we can offer a digital service along with a very traditional style of in person banking if required. Weatherbys takes pride in its exceptional customer service, answering 97% of phone calls within three rings, and has an extended hours team based in Wellingborough. Our Net Promoter Score of 84 shows that an overwhelming majority of clients would actively recommend us to others. It’s a powerful endorsement of the personal service we provide and the long term relationships we build with our clients.”
In a commercial climate where bricks and mortar bank branches are disappearing from the high street, award-winning Weatherbys is bucking the trend to ensure its services are tailored to clients’ needs. Building relationships is important to Robert and his banking colleagues.
He said: “Having been involved in very large businesses, mergers and acquisitions, we want to provide a very high level of personal service with our sector specialists imparting knowledge. It’s about connecting with clients and trying to add value along the way.
“I am committed to redefining commercial banking, bringing the high service standards of Weatherbys’ private banking to the business world, offering relationship-led support, strategic connections and genuine advocacy for my clients.”
Keen runner Robert, who is also a Northampton Saints fan, outlined the aims and future vision for the new arm of the business, with plans over the next five years to grow to 40 colleagues servicing in the region of 500 to 600 clients.
“In the shorter term, personally, I want to make an impact on the local geography of Northamptonshire. I’m keen to grow our market share, get our name out there more, as Weatherbys is a bit of a sleeping giant and we’ve not advertised ourselves historically.”
Robert’s career began with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, when the US company first launched in the UK. He left that role when Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) set up a daily rental arm through Lombard, approaching large corporates such as Cadbury, British Gas and Anglian Water to win business.
He explained: “I was successful in joining a prestigious talent programme at RBS and sponsored to take a corporate treasury qualification. I did various roles in strategy, product development and asset finance before I began my banking career proper in Northampton in 2009 at Grange Park with NatWest, which was where I first started working within the county.”
Robert recollects, as one of his career highlights, having to undertake many modules which each required in excess of 250 hours of study, which was no mean feat given he had become a parent for the first time to his then baby daughter. His daughter and son are now aged 17 and 14, with family man Robert supporting his son’s fledging cricket career as he plays for Thrapston Cricket Club and is in the Northamptonshire County Cricket Emerging Players Programme.
Staying ahead of the game is important to the Arsenal fan and keen golfer, who is confident the Weatherbys Business Bank will thrive.
He said: “Most banks really don’t know their customers. That’s not the case at Weatherbys. This new division has grown out of conversations with entrepreneurs who’ve been private banking clients with Weatherbys for years. They kept saying they wished they could get the same levels of attention and personal service for their businesses. Now they can, and so can other business owners.”
To find out more, visit the Weatherbys Business Bank website.
