Starling co-founder Julian Sawyer has become the latest top-flight executive to quit the UK challenger in recent months.
Sawyer's exit as COO after four years with the app-only bank comes amid a period of fast growth, with the British bank securing a £75 million investment in February and landing £100 million from the RBS bailout fund for its expansion into business banking.
Sawyer stepped down last week, following in the footsteps of product director Ben Chisell a week earlier. Other top execs to fly the roost this year include chief platform officer Megan Caywood, and senior digital product manager Jason Wilkinson Brown, both of whom were poached by incumbent banks. SME lending head Stuart Doignie, recruited in December, lasted just five months in the roll, moving on in May.
“We are in hypergrowth mode … the consequence of high growth is that we are a very different company compared to last year and we will be a very different company in six months’ time,” says a Starling spokesperson in a statement. “Our success means that we are seen as a source of talent and many ex-Starlings move on to great roles in companies that want to emulate us. We wish them all well.”