Cambridge & Counties Bank appoints James Royle as its new chief risk officer
Specialist lender Cambridge & Counties Bank has appointed James Royle as its new chief risk officer (CRO). He will join the bank in March 2025.
James will report to Donald Kerr, chief executive officer, and succeeds Mike Hudson, who, after a long and successful career, has decided to step back from a full-time executive position to pursue non-executive director opportunities.
James was most recently the CRO at Recognise Bank, a position he had held since June 2023. In this role, James led the management of risk across the bank, including prudential, credit, enterprise, operational, cyber, climate and reputational risk classes, across all product lines.
Previously, James spent almost 23 years at HSBC, including as managing director and deputy chief operating officer, UK Commercial Banking, and head of risk, UK Commercial Banking.
He joins during a very strong period of growth, with Cambridge & Counties Bank registering its highest ever level of gross new lending in FY2023 at £328m, up 6% year-on-year. Overall, total customer loan balances increased 5% to £1.106bn while customer deposits rose to £1.155bn, also up 5%.
A key element of the bank’s ongoing growth and success in the UK has been a dedicated focus on risks and risk management as a means to deliver an enhanced proposition to its clients and commercial finance broker partners.
The appointment of James also further reflects the bank’s ambition to attract the best talent in the market. In October 2024, Cambridge & Counties Bank announced that Richard Hanrahan had joined as its new chief financial officer (CFO). Richard was most recently CFO at Qatar National Bank in the UK, where he was responsible for the financial management of the UK branch.
Donald Kerr, CEO at Cambridge & Counties Bank, said: “We are, again, very pleased to welcome someone of James’ calibre and experience to the team. Risk management has continued to rise up the list of critical business responsibilities, and he and his team will play an intrinsic role in helping us deliver on our organisational goals and deliver excellence to our clients.
“I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Mike Hudson for his incredible support in helping turn Cambridge & Counties Bank into the competitive institution it is today.
“Mike has been a terrific CRO over the past five years and has demonstrably improved the risk management framework as well as enhancing our relations with our regulators, among many others. He built out a strong second line team while at the same time being a great advocate of our growth plans. He leaves with my sincere gratitude and thanks for all he has done.”
