DAVID Bennett, who as chief executive of Alliance & Leicester negotiated and managed its sale to Santander, has been appointed deputy chair of Glasgow-based Clydesdale Bank.

Mr Bennett, who has more than 30 years of industry experience, joins the board of Clydesdale as a non-executive director ahead of a planned flotation of the Scottish-based institution and its sister Yorkshire Bank by owner National Australia Bank.

He will join the boards of both Clydesdale Bank PLC, a corporate entity which includes Yorkshire, and National Australia Group Europe.

David Duffy became chief executive of Clydesdale Bank in June, having joined from Allied Irish Banks. He had been chief executive officer at AIB since December 2011. Mr Duffy succeeded Clydesdale Bank veteran David Thorburn.

And Adrian Grace, chief executive of pensions provider Aegon UK, was appointed as a non-executive director of Clydesdale Bank in January.

Clydesdale Bank said that the appointment of Mr Bennett was the “latest step in the further strengthening of the boards”.

The bank noted that Mr Bennett, who is a non-executive director of Ashmore Group, Paypal Europe, and Jerrold Holdings, had held a range of executive and senior positions in retail banking both in the UK and overseas, including the US and Australasia.

Mr Bennett was a non-executive director of Bank of Ireland UK until March.

Clydesdale Bank chairman Jim Pettigrew said: “We are delighted to welcome someone with David’s in-depth experience of retail banking to our boards. Few people have enjoyed as strongly varied and successful a career as David has.

“His key involvement in some of the most significant changes in banking over the past decade and his first-class business knowledge make him an ideal fit for our ambitious business and the significant and exciting opportunities which lie ahead for us.”