LHV Bank has announced the appointment of Damian Thompson as chief executive officer to lead the digital bank’s next phase of growth.

Thompson has over 30 years of experience across UK banking, structured finance and financial services. He joins LHV Bank from Starling, where he served as chief executive for company’s buy-to-let lending arm Fleet mortgages.

Under his leadership, Starling’s loan assets grew to more than £5 billion across mortgages and SME lending. He also took responsibility for Starling’s SME banking products, retail overdrafts, and loan products as the bank scaled.

Prior to this, Thompson spent almost two decades in senior roles at NatWest Markets. Until this year, he also chaired UK Finance’s Specialist Banks Advisory Forum, which represents banks outside the UK’s big five.

Thompson will join LHV Bank on 4 January 2027, subject to regulatory approval by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority.

He will lead the next stage of growth, the digital-first bank said, with a focus on expanding lending, particularly to SMEs.

Mihkel Torim, chairman of the board of LHV Bank Limited, said: “Damian knows banking, lending and technology.

“He combines the experience of one of the UK's largest banks with the pace of Starling, where he led the growth of its lending as it became a major digital bank, and he shares the entrepreneurial spirit that defines LHV,” he added. “Growing our local presence in the UK on a strong technology platform is at the core of our strategy, and Damian has the experience to lead it.”

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