Insight into banking bygones

Sunday 9 April 2000

University of St Andrews graduates who have succeeded in the world of banking will be among those gathering for a lecture on the links between Scottish banks and industry during the wars later this week.

The Bank of Scotland lecture is being given by Professor Anthony Slaven, Dean of Social Science at the University of Glasgow in Upper College Hall, St Salvator’s Quad, St Andrews at 6.45pm on Thursday 13 April 2000.

Hosted by Acting Principal Professor Colin Vincent, the event will be attended by a host of key players in Scottish banking, many of whom are University alumni, including Group Chief Executive of the Bank of Scotland Peter Burt; Divisional Non-Executive Peter Mackay and General Manager Gordon McQueen. The Governor of the Bank of Scotland and Honorary Graduate of the University of St Andrews Sir John Shaw will also attend, together with fellow-alumnus Director and Chief Executive of Historic Scotland Graeme Munro and Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland Charles Munn.

Professor Slaven’s lecture will focus on “The Banks and the Rationalisation of Scottish Industry between the wars”. Having worked with Bank of Scotland Archivist Alan Cameron on the background for the lecture, Professor Slaven will highlight some of the personalities involved and some of the cases that provide useful and significant examples.

Professor Slaven believes the lecture may also provide lessons for today’s bankers – “Have Scottish banks neglected industry in preference to other areas of lending? Should banks be closely involved with industry when it is in difficulty, or seeking to develop in new directions, and will low interest rates and cheap money stimulate industrial activity? These are continuing themes which are significant today to both banks and business”.

The lecture, which is the fourth in a series of five, resulted from the writing of the 300th year history of the Bank of Scotland by University of St Andrews historian Dr Richard Saville in 1995. The event is hosted alternately in St Andrews and Edinburgh – this year’s event is the second and last time it will be held in St Andrews. It is hoped that the research which provided the basis for the lecture may eventually be published.

ENDS

Issued by Beattie Media on behalf of the University of St Andrews For more information please contact Claire Grainger on 01334 462530, 07887 650072 or email [email protected] Ref: bankofscotland


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