New fintech focussed bank opens Leeds hub alongside recruitment drive

LHV, a banking services provider to over 200 fintech and crypto companies, has announced the official opening of its second UK office in Leeds.

The company’s engineering and development teams, who will be tasked with building a proprietary online customer portal specifically tailored for the Company’s B2B fintech clients, will be based in the Leeds office.

LHV chose Leeds as its second UK office location because of the city’s “well-established fintech ecosystem” and the wider region’s “highly skilled workforce”.

In addition, LHV UK is currently pursuing a UK banking licence as part of parent LHV Group’s plans to separate the business operations of its retail bank, LHV Bank, from those of the London headquartered fintech focussed LHV UK, since 2018, the company has operated in the UK as LHV Bank’s UK branch.

LHV UK currently provides banking services to more than 200 crypto and fintech companies such as Paysafe, Blockchain, Currencycloud, Coinbase, Trustly, Monese and Wise. Since establishing a presence in Leeds at the beginning of the year, the company has recruited more than half of the 20 positions it currently looks to fill in the coming months.

The office has enough capacity for 30 desks, with options to scale up its presence in the Wellington Place business hub in the future if required.

Macs Dickinson, lead engineering manager at LHV UK, commented: “If London is the undisputed fintech capital of Europe, then Leeds is the fintech capital of the North.

“Last year, Leeds was named one of the fastest-growing tech cities according to the Digital Economy Council, and the city is already home to more than 30 national and international banks. As the city is a location for the first fintech accelerator outside of London, it is an ideal second base for LHV UK.”

Rebecca Wright, chief people officer of LHV UK, added: “The pandemic has changed how people work. Together with LHV UK’s flexible approach, I view the office as a facilitator for collaboration.

“When I’m not in London, I often work from our Leeds office and so could many other potential employees, not only in the engineering and development teams, but also from elsewhere in the Company. By establishing a regional base, LHV UK has expanded the talent pool for potential hires.”

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