Vernon Hill
Vernon Hill is an American businessman who founded Metro Bank in the UK and Commerce Bank in the US.
Career
In 1973 with a $1.5 million investment, Hill launched Commerce Bank in New Jersey. Hill developed a clear business style based on McDonalds and other fast food outlets where the inside of each business looked the same and all transactions were completed quickly.
In 2007 Hill ran into trouble and regulators banned Commerce from opening new branches unless Hill resigned.
In mid 2008 Hill moved to Britain and had commitments for around $150 million in startup capital to launch Metro Bank. However, due to the collapse of the Lehman Brothers most of the money disappeared and Hill was forced to invest $30 million of his own funds. In February 2010 the British regulators granted Metro a licence to open.[1]
Letter to the Telegraph
On 1 April 2015 Hill was one of 103 business leaders who wrote to the Telegraph praising the British Conservative Party's economic policies and claiming a Labour government would 'threaten jobs and deter investment' in the UK.[2]
Affiliations
- Part owner of 36 Burger King restaurants
- Stake in Site Development Inc[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shawn Tully Vernon Hill is the best damn banker alive (Just ask him) Fortune, 15 September 2010, accessed 2 April 2015.
- ↑ Peter Dominiczak, 100 business chiefs: Labour threatens Britain's recovery, Telegraph, 2 April 2015.
