David Bell is the latest recruit to growing Hampden team

Scottish banking veteran David Bell is the latest recruit to private bank Hampden & Co.

He joins the challenger newcomer from the Co-op Bank after a 40-year career spanning Bank of Scotland and Alliance & Leicester.

The bank recently announced the recruitment of Graeme Morris from Clydesdale Bank, and Alastair Hazell, formerly of Coutts and Clydesdale Bank, who joined last month.

Hampden & Co opened in June 2015 to offer private banking facilities to high net worth clients.

Mr Bell said: “In what seems to be an industry-wide rush to replace relationships with contact centres and websites, it was a real delight to hear how Hampden & Co is bucking the trend and offering clients a truly personal service. There is a culture of ‘valuing the grey hair’ here, which slightly tragically works very well for me.”

Hampden chief executive Graeme Hartop added: “The reason clients are moving their banking relationships to us is because of the experience and commitment that our people offer, and the fact that we are attracting bankers of this quality shows that our appeal is not limited just to clients.”