Allica Bank has announced the appointment of Emma Lane as head of client relationship management.

She will be responsible for the development and performance of its growing UK network of business relationship managers.

Lane (pictured) joins from Allied Irish Bank (GB) where she led their team of relationship managers in the South East. Prior to this, she held a number of senior roles at Lloyds Banking Group.

Allica launched its direct-to-SME banking offering in April 2021. It has over £0.5bn in committed loan offers provided to customers in the last 12 months.

Earlier this month Allica announced its first major acquisition with an agreement to acquire c.2,000 SME customers and c.£0.6 billion of associated SME lending from AIB Group (UK) Plc.

A key part of Lane’s role will be to integrate the AIB customers.

Allica’s CEO Richard Davies said: “We are delighted to welcome Emma to the Allica team. It’s been great to see her passion for building great relationships with SMEs, helping customers to grow and scale their businesses, and she has a wealth of experience to bring to the role.

“We are particularly pleased that she joins us at the same time as we open our doors to our customers from AIB.”

Lane added: “I am thrilled to be joining Allica at such an exciting and strategically important time in their development and look forward to playing a powerful part in helping to set a new standard for service in the SME banking market.”