Brian – who began his career in finance in the late 1980s – has held roles at Touche Ross & Co and Pearl Assurance PLC.

He then joined United Bank UK as financial controller and, during his 18 years with the bank, he became chief financial officer, company secretary, deputy CEO, chief operating officer and most recently, interim CEO.

“I have been a part of United Bank UK’s story for over 18 years, having seen many iterations of the bank as it has grown and evolved to meet our customers’ needs,” said Brian.

“I am delighted to take the helm at a time where the bank is making significant investment to transform our offerings, de-risk the balance sheet and expand on our commercial capabilities to ensure that we continue to support the needs of our personal, commercial and international customers.”

United Bank UK was formed in 2001 following the merger of the UK branches of two Pakistani banks, United Bank Limited and National Bank of Pakistan, which had been operating since the mid-1960s.

The bank’s principal activities are to provide retail banking products through its branch network in major cities across the UK, wholesale banking, treasury and money transmission services to financial institutions and trade finance facilities to businesses.

“The board of directors has conducted a rigorous search process and considered the credentials of several strong candidates to be the next CEO of this bank,” said Bande Hasan, chairman at United Bank UK.

“Ultimately, the decision was made that there was one outstanding leader and it was unanimously decided that Brian Firth was the right [person] for the role.”