TSB Bank is set to appoint Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank Group (CYBG) chief operating officer Debbie Crosbie as its new chief executive.

She will replace Paul Pester, who stood down in September after the bank suffered a series of major IT failures.

Crosbie, currently group chief operation officer and executive director at CYBG, will join TSB in the new year. She has held a number of roles during a 20-year career with the bank, including a spell as acting chief executive officer in the first half of 2015.

Richard Meddings, who took up the role of executive chairman following Pester’s resignation, will reprise his previous role of non-executive chairman once Crosbie arrives, following regulatory approval for the move.

Pester, who had led the challenger bank for seven years, has been heavily criticised for his role in a botched IT migration in April this year that has repeatedly left thousands of customers without access to online banking services.

The bank’s board will look to Crosbie to rebuild trust amongst its core customer base, as well as develop its digital banking proposition.

Crosbie said: “The exciting thing about TSB is just how much potential the bank has to redefine banking to better serve customers and their changing financial needs.”

She added that TSB has “all the right ingredients” to be the leading challenger bank in the UK.

Meddings added: “With over two decades of experience, superb retail and SME banking expertise, and a genuinely open and engaging style of leadership, we have found an outstanding new CEO.

“What’s more, Debbie brings a clear challenger mindset to TSB and she shares our vision for what a strong challenger bank can achieve for customers.”

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