Mr Thomson was also formerly credit director at Scottish Widows Bank.

Bringing over 35 years of banking industry experience, Mr Thomson is a chartered banker, a fellow of the Chartered Bankers Institute and chaired the Northern Association of Building Societies’ executive committee between 2017 and 2019.

Graeme Hartop, Hampden & Co CEO, said: “Mark was a key member of the senior team during my time at Scottish Widows Bank and brings extensive banking experience and encapsulates our ethos of having the best people in the market at Hampden & Co.

“Mark will manage our approach to individual credit decision-making, in particular for clients with complex requirements but low-risk profile - something that the high street banks find difficult to provide by way of automation.”

Mark Thomson added: “I’ve always been of the opinion that every client’s individual circumstances should be a very important factor when assessing lending applications and not placing total reliance on application scoring systems employed by the vast majority of the mainstream banking sector.

“Hampden & Co is in direct contrast to the high street banks in this area, the bank is making the right impression in the marketplace and I look forward to contributing to its ongoing success.”