UK banks have forgotten that they are in business to serve customers, the co-founder of Metro Bank, the first new UK high street bank for over 100 years, has told an audience of interim management providers, their clients and candidates.

As a result banks have lost the trust of consumers because of greed-driven practices such as misselling payment protection insurance (PPI), Anthony Thompson told the Interim Management Association (IMA) last Thursday night. “UK banking is pretty dreadful,” Thompson said.

“They [the banks] have forgotten that profit is a by-product” of serving customers, he added. 

The focus on profits at the expense of customer service was part of a “general malaise” afflicting UK business across a wider spectrum, Thompson went on to say. “People think they’re just in business to make money.”

Metro Bank, which opened with four branches in 2010, offers customer conveniences such as late opening hours, seven days a week operations, and water bowls and biscuits for customers’ dogs. “If you put the customer at the heart of what you do, you will always prosper,” he promised.

Thompson spoke at the IMA’s 25th anniversary event held in London.