Finance Monthly CEO Awards 2018 Edition

FINANCE MONTHLY CEO AWARDS 2018 www.finance-monthly.com 53 UNITED KINGDOM awarded the Capital Finance International Award for Best Africa Trade Finance Bank for the third consecutive year. Our Commercial Banking team offers relationship-based service for corporate and individual customers. We offer a wide range of products and services with a choice of competitive rates, market leading systems and top quality service. Our Global Private Bank has been built around our passion for delivering excellent service. We deliver innovative investment solutions to our discerning clients who value trust, integrity and accountability as well as investment performance. We take a proactive approach to product and service delivery and offer unique investment solutions, which are tailored to our customers’ needs by a highly experienced Private Banking team. The Access Bank UK Dubai Branch offers a broad range of products and services to assist customers with trade and investment needs in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. The DIFC Branch is committed to building a long lasting relationship in the region in line with the approach that has proven so effective for The Access Bank UK. The combination of the Dubai office together with our presence in the UK and Nigeria delivers a wealth of expertise that significantly benefits our customers. We take time to build long-term relationships and work closely with our customers to understand their goals in order to create a strategy designed to meet their needs. We provide constant support and development opportunities for our employees, which reflects in their dedication and professionalism. The Bank is led by a team of accomplished individuals determined to deliver superior financial solutions for business and individuals. Our staff are highly experienced and many have spent time working in the Sub-Saharan, West African and international marketplaces. We are firmly committed to the diversity of our workforce. We encourage a sense of individual ownership while also fostering team spirit. Our endeavour is to help employees realise their potential through the provision of continuous learning opportunities and the tools and training to support professional growth. Jamie Simmonds, Chief Executive Officer/ Managing Director said: “Our people are fundamental to our Bank’s continued development. They provide the skills that deliver our focus on service and customer relations. Reflecting this, during the year we selectively recruited additional members to the team and also invested more in professional development. We were the first Nigerian bank to achieve Investors in People accreditation. We have now advanced our status to Gold. We believe that our consistently low staff turnover rate reflects in part the advances we have made in training and development. The Bank is currently working in partnership with BPP professional apprenticeships and Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) programmes”. The Access Bank UK has recently announced its Annual Report and Accounts for 2017. The Bank has recorded yet another year of significant all-round growth, achieving and exceeding target for all the main growth strategies. Operating income was up 45% year-on- year to £36.2m, with all four strategic business units performing well. Pre-tax profits overall grew by a substantial 76% to £22m and the return on equity rose to 16.6%, up from 13.54% in 2016. Trade Finance revenues increased year-on-year by 15% to £19.8m whilst Commercial Banking team achieved an increase of 113% year-on-year to £11.5m. Asset Management and Private Banking incomes rose by 15.3% to £1.5m. The Bank continued expanding the depth and breadth of the services in the recently opened office in Dubai and in its first full year trading it has delivered income of £671k covering all of its Direct Costs. Jamie Simmonds commented on the recently published results: “The Access Bank UK continued to build the trust and loyalty of our customers by providing consistent support throughout a period when the business environment in key markets has often been extremely challenging. In doing so, we have developed even stronger relationships with our existing customers whilst also attracting new ones, creating a solid platform for further growth in an improving economic environment”. Herbert Wigwe added: “This year marks the end of The Access Bank UK’s 9th full year of trading during which time the Bank has gone from strength to strength, routinely meeting and often exceeding all its annual growth targets despite the long-lasting worldwide financial and economic challenges arising from the global crisis of 2008. Looking forward to 2018 we are well prepared to take advantage of an improving economic outlook, in our market place and we are confident The Access Bank UK will continue to make good progress as we embark on our third five-year plan with the declared aim of helping to establish Access Bank Group as ‘Africa’s Gateway to the World’.” The Access Bank UK offices in the heart of the City of London The Access Bank UK DIFC Branch situated in the iconic Gate Building of Dubai International Financial Centre