Signs that Tesco Bank is willing to pay well for the right people

In a sign that Edinburgh-headquartered Tesco Bank has deep pockets for taking on the right people, we understand it's recruited Rick Hunkin as its new chief risk officer, who was reportedly earning 300k in his role at Northern Rock.

The role of the chief risk officer has not traditionally been a high-profile one, but when Northern Rock drafted in the services of Rick Hunkin in July 2008 to beef up the internal controls of the bank and steer it away from the exotic investments that led to its collapse, it was headline news.

What's more, at a time when banker pay was beginning to come under public scrutiny, it was reported that Hunkin was likely to be earning at least 300k before bonus. It's likely that Tesco Bank would have at least matched that to bring him onboard, particularly in the wake of rising salaries for risk managers in the financial sector.

"Within investment banking it's standard for a CRO to earn 350k now," says one specialist risk recruiter in London. "Pay is slightly less within retail banking, but you'd expect a minimum of 320k."

Hunkin has 30 years' experience, having previously held positions at GE Money, C&G, Goldfish Bank, the National Bank of New Zealand and Lloyds TSB.

Northern Rock has announced that Hunkin will leave the company on 31 December, and we understand that he's due to start at Tesco Bank in January.

Tesco Bank declined to comment.

Tesco Bank has, of course, been ambitiously expanding in Scotland and aims to have 2,300 people employed there by late 2011.

When it initially started hiring for the senior ranks in 2008, it benefited from the troubles of its local rivals by poaching from both RBS and HBOS.

It hired Shaun Doherty, former HBOS operations director as operations and IT director; Julie McLelland, previously head of banking and savings operations at HBOS; Paulette Rowe, formerly managing director of NatWest retail, as marketing and commercial director and Ian Clink and Ian Tyler from RBS.