She was once the darling of the FTSE 100. A longtime NatWest employee, Alison Rose spent 27 years working her way up from graduate trainee to become the group’s first female chief executive in 2019.
The ambitious banker was meant to be a breath of fresh air for the beleaguered group – then known as Royal Bank of Scotland – which had suffered significant blows to its reputation after a string of scandals and a near-collapse that led to a £45bn state bailout at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.
Rose wasted no time making sweeping changes, including ditching the near-300-year-old RBS name in a bid to refresh its image three months into her tenure.
“Everything she did was centred on how it affected business,” a colleague at NatWest said. “She was 100% laser-focused on what decisions meant for customers, shareholders, for the bank. The sense was, if it doesn’t do something positive, I’m not doing it.”
But the whirlwind of controversies and revelations surrounding the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank accounts has led not only to her surprise resignation three weeks into the scandal, but left another blemish on the lender’s history.
The episode could not be further from Rose’s usual air of equanimity and discretion. While she attracted criticism for collecting a £5.2m pay package and cash bonus amid rising interest rates earlier this year, most describe her as a steady, but not flashy, leader. Her peers describe her as “loyal” and “careful”, leaving many surprised by both the scandal and her departure.
The 53-year-old’s fall from grace follows years of government support and accolades. Even before she took over as chief executive, she was tapped to lead a government inquiry into female-led businesses that ultimately bore her name. In the 2023 new year honours list, she was recognised for “services to financial services” and helping restore NatWest to stability and profitability.
This year has been otherwise successful for the chief executive, who went on to co-chair the UK energy efficiency taskforce and briefly joined Rishi Sunak’s business council, which held its inaugural meeting last week.
“She was generally quite cautious,” said one City colleague who worked alongside her on the Alison Rose review into female entrepreneurship. “She’d take the time to kind of make sure that it was the right decision, if there were judgments to be made. So I suppose that fits with holding cards close to your chest. She wasn’t a gossiper.”
Rose, who grew up in a military family and lives in Highgate in north London, kept a relatively low profile before she took over commercial and private banking at NatWest in 2014. But she still made an impact, having been the only woman in the boardroom when she attended her first meeting that year.
City colleagues described her as a “capable business leader” who showed ambition years before she took over the top job from Ross McEwan in late 2019. “I first knew her when she ran the corporate and commercial bank within RBS Group, before she stepped up to CEO, and I think she obviously took her responsibilities seriously and has been someone with good judgment,” said one.
Rivals have said they were fully aware of her influence. “Alison’s appointment as CEO at NatWest was the catalyst for a lot of positive and much-needed change in financial services and her impact extended well beyond the sector,” Nationwide’s chief executive, Debbie Crosbie, said.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, the Lloyds chief executive, Charlie Nunn, said he “really respected Alison as a role model in financial services. Some of the leadership, especially around topics like sustainability and female entrepreneurs, has been great and I’ll miss her in that context.”
“I’m sad about it,” a City colleague said of Rose’s resignation. “I understand why she’s made the decision that she’s made but I’m disappointed, and she was someone I enjoyed working with who I thought otherwise was doing a very good job.”
