Paul David Pester (born 14 January 1964) is a British banker. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of TSB Bank from 2013 to 2018.

Early life

Pester grew up in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

. He was educated at Tamar High School, Plymouth. He has a first class honours degree in physics from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

, and a doctorate (DPhil) in mathematical physics from

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

in 1988.

Career

Pester was employed by

McKinsey & Co McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...

as a management consultant, before running

Virgin Money Virgin Money is a financial services brand used by two independent brand-licensees worldwide from the Virgin Group. Virgin Money branded services are currently available in Australia and the United Kingdom. The brand formerly operated in South Af ...

, and then working in various senior roles for

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an extensi ...

, Santander and

Lloyds Banking Group Lloyds Banking Group is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Bank ...

TSB

Pester was appointed in 2013 to launch TSB for the Lloyds Banking Group and, in June 2014, the BBC reported that he could earn more than £1.6 million that year in pay and bonuses. He stepped down after a disastrous IT failure at the bank, which he claimed ultimate responsibility for. On stepping down, Pester took a substantial bonus - which raised eyebrows among TSB's customers, staff and regulators. This was eventually found to be a ‘contractual severance pay agreement’ .

Personal life

Pester lives in London with his second wife. He divorced in 2015 and remarried in 2017.

References

1964 births Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Manchester British bankers British chief executives British corporate directors Living people Businesspeople from Plymouth, Devon {{UK-business-bio-1960s-stub