HSBC appoints new head of agriculture

HSBC has appointed Allan Wilkinson as its new head of agriculture.

He will be responsible for the bank’s farming customers in the UK.

A farmer’s son from the north-east, Mr Wilkinson obtained a degree in agriculture from Aberystwyth University, then worked as a farm management consultant in Leicestershire for three years before joining HSBC Bank in 1988.

He was appointed senior agriculture banking manager for Cumbria and the north-east in 1994, and divisional agriculture manager for northern counties, Northern Ireland and Scotland in 1998.

For the last six-and-a-half years Mr Wilkinson has held senior posts in the retail and commercial bank network leading teams in northern England.

“I am thrilled to have the job I always wanted since joining the agriculture team in 1988,” he said. “HSBC’s brand and position in the marketplace is as strong as ever, clearly demonstrated through our appetite to lend to good-quality farm businesses.”

He replaces the bank’s former head of agriculture, Pat Tomlinson, who resigned from his post last December. Mr Wilkinson will head up a team of over 60 agricultural managers.

The announcement came on the day that HSBC revealed that underlying profits had risen by 56% to £8.8bn for 2009.