Starling Bank poaches Big Six energy boss ahead of planned London listing
Starling Bank has appointed Ovo boss Raman Bhatia to be its permanent chief executive as the digital challenger enters its “next phase of growth” ahead of a planned public listing.
Bhatia is set to join the bank in the early summer, taking over from interim CEO John Mountain subject to regulatory approval. Mountain assumed the role after the bank’s founder Anne Boden stepped down as chief executive last June.
She cited a desire to split up her role as a major shareholder and the chief executive. It was reported that her decision followed a row with investors over Starling’s valuation falling by at least £1bn when fund manager Jupiter sold its holding.
Bhatia is due to step down from his current role as chief executive of Ovo, the UK’s third-largest energy supplier, which he has held since March 2022. He joined the firm in January 2020 as chief operating officer.
He was previously at HSBC for five years, becoming head of digital bank for the group’s retail banking and wealth management business in the UK and Europe.
Starling touted Bhatia’s “wealth of consumer tech and fintech expertise”, including “navigating one of Britain’s leading digitally driven disruptor brands through a period of significant change” at Ovo.
Boden, who still sits on Starling’s board of directors, commented: “I am pleased that in Raman we have found someone who can take Starling into its next phase of growth while cherishing the culture and values we have worked so hard to instil in everything we do.”
News of the appointment gives renewed optimism over Starling’s plans for an IPO. The firm, last officially valued at £2.5bn in 2022, put its plans for a listing on ice after Boden stepped down. In 2021, she outlined hopes for a London float in either 2022 or 2023.
The CEO of Starling’s software-as-a-service business Engine told CityAM in December that a stock market listing was “still the plan” but there was “no set timeline for it”.
Starling, like rivals Monzo and Revolut, has captured an increasingly bigger slice of the retail banking market in recent years.
Last May, the firm reported record pretax profits of £195m for the year to the end of March 2023 – a more than six-fold increase from the same period the year before. Starling’s revenues doubled to £216m, while its loan book grew nearly 50 per cent to £4.9bn.
David Sproul, chair of Starling, said on Tuesday: “We see significant opportunities for Starling under Raman’s leadership as the economy stabilises, as our truly differentiated offering for personal and small business customers wins market share in the UK, and as our Engine by Starling software-as-a-service business secures further international contracts.
“I want to thank John Mountain for his wise stewardship of Starling these past eight months and am delighted that we will continue to benefit from his expertise at the company.”
Bhatia commented: “I am truly honoured to be appointed as the next group CEO of Starling Bank. Starling is a company I have long admired because it believes passionately, like I do, in using the power of technology to do the right thing for its customers and its people. I can’t wait to get started and to see what we can achieve together.”