The Intermediary – August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 52
The Interview.
Recognise Bank
Not a ‘little big bank’
Jessica Bird speaks with
Simon Bateman, CEO and
executive director at
Recognise Bank, about the
process of turning its
fortunes around
R
ecognise Bank has faced highs
and lows since its foundation
in 2017. Despite, at the time,
quickly establishing a sizeable
lending and deposit operation,
sustainable profitability was
a challenge, particularly in
the face of high costs and
market volatility.
In late 2024, newly appointed CEO Simon
Bateman arrived on the scene with a remit
to “restart the startup.” His work, alongside a
refreshed executive team, would ultimately
take the bank from loss to profit within a few
short years.
The Intermediary sat down with Bateman to
find out how the Recognise Bank, having posted
a post-tax profit of £8.9m for the year ended
March 2026, plans to step into its next phase.
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The Intermediary | August 2026
Bateman traces his career from Santander
through to Lloyds, Aldermore, Harrods Bank,
Allica and Nomo Fintech.
The recurring theme has been technology,
transformation, cost-efficiency and scaling,
while his move from large institutions into
smaller banks has given Bateman experience on
both sides of the industry.
In late 2024, when it became clear that
Recognise Bank needed a refreshed approach,
Bateman describes himself as having been
“nervously excited” to bring all this experience
to bear and take on the challenge.
He says: “Recognise has gone through a
number of executive management changes and
board changes, and with Parasol V27 coming
on board as the primary investor, there was
an opportunity to reinvigorate the business
and restart, which also meant going back to its
original specialist roots.
“It has been a rollercoaster ride of
transformation into stability. The profits that we
announced recently have shown that Recognise
has indeed restarted.”
The first task facing Bateman as he took the
helm was not simply to devise new products or
grow lending; it was to rebuild the organisation
to be capable of doing those things, sustainably
and at scale.
A major advantage in this effort was the
ability to construct a new executive team.
Bateman brought people in with startup and
scale-up experience, arguing that working in
that environment requires a unique mentality.
He says: “It’s about the impact you can have
in large organisations versus small ones – the
level of governance and red tape that you
have to get through to implement change
can be suffocating, and can restrict the pace
of improvement.
“Working in a small organisation, the impact
that you can have is instant. Decisions can be
made very, very quickly.”
This team approached the Recognise Bank
proposition with a semi-blank sheet of paper.
No process was assumed to work merely
because it already existed.
“It was very much a case of not leaving any
stone unturned,” Bateman explains. “If it looks
like it’s broken, it’s probably broken.
