Ms Brennan said she decided to leave PTSB as she wanted to move back into the deals and advisory space. “In the role in PTSB, I found myself moving further and further away from the customer as we build up business banking from scratch,” she said. “But I left behind a really good team.
“Businesses need access to debt advisory services to navigate the options out there, to make sure they are getting the best value, structure and advice,” she said, adding that a spike in market interest rates in the past year, as central banks hiked official borrowing costs, “means business customers should shop around for best value” at a time when they are also grappling with general inflation”.
However, she noted that non-bank lenders have seen their own market-based funding costs increase in the past year, putting them at a disadvantage to domestic banks, who are largely financed by cheap customer deposits.