Starling chief quits challenger bank she founded in 2014 and calls for it to go public
The boss of challenger bank Starling is stepping down nine years after founding it.
Anne Boden, the first British woman to set up a new bank, has said she will step down as chief executive at the end of next month.
She will remain on the board as a non-executive director as well as a shareholder with a 4.9% stake worth £122.5million.
Boden also outlined her ambition for the company she founded in 2014 to go public – which is expected to happen within two years.
‘Starling is bigger than a single person. It is an important infrastructure for the United Kingdom. We ensure a real role in society,” she said.
Founder: Starling boss Anne Boden, the first British woman to set up a new bank, has said she will step down as chief executive at the end of next month
She said it was not appropriate to have a shareholder as chief executive, due to potential conflicts of interest.
Chief Operating Officer John Mountain will hold the position until a replacement is named. Starling posted a record profit of £195m for the year to the end of March, more than six times the previous year’s £32m.
Revenue rose to £453m from £216m as it benefited from higher interest rates.
As a digital-only bank, it has no branches and allows customers to manage accounts on their phones.
It has more than 3.6million accounts and a funding round last year valued it at £2.5billion. Boden, 63, created it after the 2008 financial crisis.
She told the BBC: ‘I was ashamed to be part of this whole regime that had failed the country.
“I wanted to build a bank that was really good for customers, that was right. And people never believed that I could do it and be profitable. So there we have it.
