Continued
In Ulster Bank we have a clear ambition to become the number one bank for customer service, trust and advocacy by 2020. Our business strategy supports this ambition, with a culture centred on being responsible and sustainable in our activities and our engagements with colleagues, customers, communities and corporate stakeholders.We share our ambition with our parent RBS, who for the first time this year published a Strategic Report summarising the bank’s financial and non-financial performance. Our own 2016 Sustainability Report highlights our sustainability activities in the our Republic of Ireland business only, following the separation of our businesses in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland at the end of 2015.
As the banking industry continues to adapt to the changing economic and political landscape, we are also adapting and responding to our customers’ changing behaviours and needs. We’re looking at the emerging trends in our business, anticipating and delivering efficiencies and value for our customers. 2016 was marked by a number of key initiatives we introduced, enhancing our customers’ experience with us. These included new digital services, more convenient ways to bank with us, improvements to our service for vulnerable customers and for the unbanked.
We are acutely aware that Ulster Bank, along with many others in the Irish banking industry, continues to manage a number of legacy issues. As we do so, we want to demonstrate our commitment to doing what’s right for all our customers and for the bank we are committed to becoming. I feel extremely privileged to lead Ulster Bank into the next phase of our business, and to continuing to build a sustainable bank that meets the needs of our customers, colleagues, community partners and corporate stakeholders.