Challengers banks land £280m for SME focus

New UK entrant Ashman Bank boosts management team

Ellie Duncan
06 Jan 2023

New UK-based bank Ashman Bank has expanded its senior management team with the appointments of a chief information officer and chief technology officer, following a recent funding round that took total funding to date to over £17.5 million.

Ben Hynes, who joined the bank in 2019 as programme director and head of transformation, has been named CIO.

He will lead the management of the bank’s IT infrastructure, systems and operations, and will also drive Ashman’s IT and business transformation strategy.

In his previous role, Hynes oversaw the delivery of the bank’s successful application for a UK Banking Licence.

Mark Holloway has been promoted to chief technology officer (CTO) at the bank, having joined as head of technology in 2018, and is one of the founding members.

As CTO, Holloway will lead Ashman’s technology strategy and the engineering and information security functions.

Ashman Bank’s launch is subject to a regulatory timeline and approval.

Based in Birmingham, the bank is proposing to provide personalised lending to property businesses and entrepreneurs in the UK, while offering competitive rates to personal savers.

Simon Healy, COO of Ashman Bank, said: “Ben and Mark have made a huge impact at Ashman already. In their new roles, they will be instrumental in delivering Ashman’s vision of transforming the banking experience for property entrepreneurs.”

“Our senior management team has been assembled to ensure we are armed with the knowledge and insight to drive positive change and create a greener future for all, through finance,” he added.

Prior to working at Ashman, Holloway was regulatory technology consultant and project delivery lead for LiquidMetrix, and also held senior leadership roles at Maple Securities and Intelligent Financial Systems.

Most recently, before he joined Ashman, Hynes was transformation director at Vive/GKBK and as Aldermore Bank’s programme director.