The Bank of Scotland has appointed Gillian Henderson as the lead director of commercial banking in Scotland.

Ms Henderson, who joined the bank 15 years ago as an Abertay graduate, said it was “exciting” to be an integral part of the leadership team with the key function of supporting regional managing director Alasdair Gardner.

The bank said the new appointment would help support its Scottish agenda and priorities.

Ms Henderson will work with mid-market and SME area directors to deliver and drive forward current and prospective client services utilising her wealth of regional market, business planning and team development expertise.

More specifically, she will also support Alasdair Gardner in delivering Lloyds Banking Group’s National House Builders Strategy and social housing commitment.

Alasdair Gardner said: “Gillian’s diverse background will bring a new depth of knowledge and expertise to the leadership team as well as foster additional support for our Mid-Market and SME teams, lending insight and guidance on relationships, transactions and management.

“Bank of Scotland believes it is imperative we have the right people in the right places to support our Scottish priorities both from a political and business perspective.

“It is also vital that we continue to deliver the most current financial advice and enable our commercial customers to capitalise on the growing Scottish economy.”

Ms Henderson added: “This is an exciting time to be working with SME and Mid-Market businesses in Scotland with key sectors such as food and drink, tourism, manufacturing and oil and gas experiencing their own individual periods of peaks and troughs.

“In conjunction with this, the global economy is also having its own impact on exporting and the strength of the pound which creates its own challenges for business growth.

“I am also looking forward to joining the Bank of Scotland senior management team as we look across what is a very different Scottish agenda. Being at the heart of driving the Bank’s own programme is an exciting prospect too, as we take our business to the next level and deliver for our customers a further enhanced, end to end service.”