Investec, the FTSE 250 financier, has unveiled plans to boost its UK private bank in a major strategic move that will include hiring new talent in the City.

The expansion will boost its banking presence in London, as it seeks out wealthy clients for what will become a ‘full service primary bank”. It has identified 95,000 households as potential new customers.

A £30m investment from the FTSE 250 firm aims to double the client base of its UK private bank to 16,000. That is enough to lift its UK market share to around 13 per cent and its loan book to £9bn. The new jobs will be for customer-facing roles.

It is a key part of ambitious multi-year targets for the company set by its chief executive, Fani Titi, which run to 2030.

He said on Thursday: “We are hiring within the UK corporate mid-market and looking to launch a fully functional service in the second half of 2027.

“We will go much harder at the affluent sector”.

New plan to ‘deepen banking and wealth relationships’

The UK offering will include current accounts and, for the first time for the company in the country a credit card. There will also be a rewards and benefits programme.

The push will be led by the provision of high-end financial advice and planning, which will “deepen banking and wealth relationships” on offer in the UK.

As he unveiled the strategic overhaul, Titi told analysts and reporters that a customer service priority was fast call handling: “Our standard is that if a client calls in, the phone should not ring for more than three rings.”

The London expansion is aiming to lift one key industry benchmark, its compound annual growth rate, to 15 per cent.

Investec’s wider strategy is to “established client franchises into larger, more entrenched and higher returns businesses” with London a vital venue in the effort.

Investec began in South Africa in 1974, and is a major presence there to this day. It first listed in London in 2002. Investec merged its UK wealth arm with Rathbones, one of the City’s most famous names, in a landmark £839m deal in 2023.

Rathbones dates back to1742 and has origins as a London timber merchant. It evolved into a wealth management house and by 1912 was established as a City institution. It listed on the Stock Exchange in 1992. Since the 2023 deal, Investec owns just over 40 per cent of the firm.

As Investec tackles its 2030 goals, Rathbones will provide underlying investment capabilities, with the strategic partnership between the two firms evolving from client referrals to “an integrated assets-under-advice model”, with Investec now leading in offering relationships and advice.

Ryan Tholet, Investec’s head of private banking, said the intention was to take the UK client base “even further … even faster”, adding:

“Our shift from mortgage banker to relationship manager  enables a greater offering at the source of any lending, increasing our relevance.”