Santander director joins Business School Advisory Board
The University's Chancellor Sir Patrick Stewart (second left) is pictured with Santander’s Divisional Managing Director Sue Douthwaite (second right) at the opening of the University's Santander branch with Kiren Sirha, University Relationship Branch Manager and Simon Bray, who heads Santander’s university division.
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 11:23:00 GMT
Sue Douthwaite is Santander’s Divisional Managing Director, Retail Distribution, and has 25 years’ experience in the banking sector
ONE of the region’s leading bankers will contribute to the development and the burgeoning reputation of her local university’s Business School.
Sue Douthwaite is corporate banking director for Santander in the North of England. She is based in Manchester, but lives in her native Huddersfield and is a former student at the town’s New College. Now she has accepted an invitation to join the Advisory Board of the University of Huddersfield’s Business School.
During 2014, the University joined Santander’s global universities network, which links 72 institutions in the UK and more than 1,000 worldwide. When the Dean of the Business School, Professor Chris Cowton, decided to recruit another key figure from the financial services sector to join his Advisory Board, he discussed the matter with a Santander representative when Steve Pateman, its Head of UK Banking, delivered a guest lecture at the University.
It soon emerged that Sue Douthwaite – who has more than 25 years’ experience in her sector – was willing to join the Board, having been keen that Huddersfield should become part of the Santander network.
Pictured left: Santander's Sue Douthwaite welcomes Chancellor Sir Patrick Stewart at the opening of the University's Santander branch.
Professor Cowton is delighted that Mrs Douthwaite has accepted the invitation. It means that the Advisory Board – which was established in 2010 – includes several members who come from the corporate sector, with major companies that include Syngenta, David Brown, Cummins and now Santander being among those represented.
The Advisory Board meets thrice yearly and has a membership of up to 20 individuals who hold or have held senior positions in business, the public or voluntary sectors, or the professions. Their role is to advise the Business School on matters of strategic importance, help to widen its national and international engagement, provide guidance on new opportunities and help to enhance its reputation and profile.
Sue Douthwaite has experience of both retail and corporate banking. She joined Santander in 2011, in order to lead a 75-strong team of experts who work closely with business throughout the North of England. She was recruited from the Royal Bank of Scotland, where she was Regional Director, Corporate Banking for Yorkshire and the North East. Before this, she had held a number of senior positions in the banking sector and she is a council member of the North West CBI.
She is also actively involved in the attempt to boost the numbers of women playing a key role in business and is a member of the Two Per Cent Club, one of the major campaigning organisations in this field.
