(8 August 2006 – Australia) Former Westpac general manager of Business Banking Jamie Ritchie has been given the task of growing BankWest’s position in the agribusiness sector.Before joining BankWest as new head of Rural and Regional for its business division, Ritchie was general manager of Business Banking at Westpac and also general manager of Equipment Finance and general manager of Regional Banking.
Based in Melbourne, Ritchie will be responsible for boosting BankWest’s market share of the national agribusiness sector, which grew 45 percent over the past year.
BankWest chief executive, Corporate and Business Division, Paul Clark, said Rural and Regional was the bank’s “traditional backbone” and was an important focus for the its growth aspirations.
“We have recruited more than 100 new managers with specialised industry experience over the last twelve months to help us meet our growth aspirations. We are determined to win customers and their business through a very customer-centric service proposition,” Clark said.
“We are continuing to build in-house expertise and understanding of key industry sectors, including agribusiness, a sector we know well and where we have always had considerable expertise and experience,” he said.