COUTTS & CO CONTINUES LEEDS EXPANSION WITH APPOINTMENT OF TWO ADDITIONAL PRIVATE BANKERS

26 January 2005

Coutts & Co, the UK’s leading private bank, has announced its continued expansion in Yorkshire, with the appointment of two new private bankers to its Yorkshire office in Leeds. The appointments follow the first phase of the office’s regional expansion in July where two private bankers were also appointed, and comes on the back of an extremely successful year for the team in 2004.

Ian Lockwood and Nikki Foster have been appointed to help further expand the business through out the county. Ian will be concentrating primarily on North and East Yorkshire, with a focus on the Hull and East Riding areas, while Nikki will be focussing on the South and West, in particular Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

Ian has 20 years experience in the local wealth management industry, having joined Coutts from his role as IFA in the Private Client division of HSBC. Nikki has recently moved into the region, having spent seven years as an IFA with Chase de Vere in Bath. She will be initially working with her own book of clients, as well as looking to build her contact base in the region.

John Richardson, senior banker, Yorkshire Region, commented: "We are delighted that we have been able to further expand the team at what has been a very exciting time for our operations in Yorkshire.

"We now have Coutts’ second largest private banking team outside of London, which is a fantastic endorsement of the prosperity and success of entrepreneurs in this region and we are looking forward to building further on our own success."

Coutts unveiled plans for significant expansion of its regional office network at the end of 2003. As part of its expansion plans, the private bank has been increasing the number of private bankers in its regional offices by as much as 60%. It also has plans to open two new offices, the locations of which are still to be confirmed.

-ends-

For further information please contact:

Claire Symonds, Regional PR Manager, Coutts & Co. Tel: 020 7957 2650, mob: 07970 001149, email: clairesymonds@coutts.com

Notes to editors:

Coutts & Co

• Coutts is the international private banking arm of the Coutts Group, an international private banking group owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is one of the world's largest banking groups.
• Coutts manages the wealth of 90,000 high net worth clients worldwide through a network of 50 offices globally.
• The first Coutts regional office to be opened was Eton in 1961. The most recent new opening was Liverpool, late last year. Today, Coutts has regional offices in Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Eton, Guildford, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Tunbridge Wells & Winchester.
• Coutts offers clients a range of products and services covering sophisticated investment products together with expertise in trust and fiduciary services and UK tax and banking services.
• Coutts has for the second year in a row been awarded ‘Best Use of Long-Only Multi-Manager Structures’ at the Private Asset Management Awards 2004

• Coutts & Co is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Registered in England No. 36695. Registered office: 440 Strand, London, WC2R 0QS

• Calls may be recorded