Saving the best to last AIRDRIE SAVINGS BANK'S JIM LINDSAY INTERVIEW

BEING the last of your species to survive can be a lonely experience. But in Airdrie Savings Bank, the mood is refreshingly upbeat as Jim Lindsay, the affable general manager of the last surviving independent savings bank in the UK, lays plans to celebrate the bank's 175th birthday in 2010.

"Our aim is survival and growth. It sounds desperate but it's not really because we have been achieving that for years. But we recognise there's a challenge ahead of us, " says Lindsay.

"We've commissioned a book on the history of the bank by Charles Munn [chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Bankers] and we're certainly looking forward to celebrating our 175th anniversary, " he adds.

A tiny financial institution by most standards, it has just over 100 staff, eight branches, 70,000 customers and assets of GBP126 million.

On the grounds of economies of scale alone, the fact that it has managed to retain its independence through decades of relentless consolidation in the sector seems a minor miracle.

Its almost quaint espousal of traditional banking values and retention of the personal touch has undoubtedly played a part in its survival, helping it retain a loyal customer base throughout north Lanarkshire in an age when banking has become an increasingly impersonal experience.

"Our success essentially comes down to the local strength of the bank.

We're known locally as 'the bank you can trust.' It's a great credit to the staff too, " says Lindsay.

It is little things, he says, which contribute to the ethos of the bank. "One of my business contacts told me he saw a lady customer come in and straighten up our door mat, " he says, adding that customers feel a sense of ownership.

Airdrie Savings Bank, which opened for business in 1835 in the corner of a small shop, grew out of the Thrift movement and was created to encourage ordinary working people to save.

It has no shareholders and the depositors effectively own the bank, with their interests protected by an elected independent Board of Trustees.

Lindsay is not on the board, which is populated by local business people who meet once a month and donate their time and expertise free of charge.

"This is a real strength for us - Our primary objective is not to drive profits year-on-year, effectively we're a mutual, " he says.

Airdrie Savings Bank has, in fact, a steady record of recording small profits of between GBP500,000 and GBP750,000 and Lindsay says he is comfortable with this level. A certain amount of profitability is essential to allow reinvestment in the bank. It costs Airdrie GBP600,000 a year just to be part of an ATM network as it is not economic to run its own network.

A plethora of regulatory changes also impact heavily on a small player as compliance costs money in terms of time and expertise.

"In essence we have the same issues as everyone else but we have to handle them with 100 staff and limited capital to pay for others to come in, " Lindsay says.

The bank valiantly fights its corner in its north Lanarkshire heartland. "With the best will in the world this area will remain our focus, " he says.

Originally only involved in deposits, Airdrie has stepped up lending activity.

When Lindsay joined Airdrie from a senior position in the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2000, lending was GBP14m and deposits were GBP60m. Both have virtually doubled, with lending standing at GBP36m and deposits totalling GBP115m.

The bank has also carved out a growing niche business in bridging loans and in law firm client deposits, working with the solicitors network. It is also looking at partnerships on investment products.

UNLIKE some big banks such as the Halifax, which several years ago was found to be discouraging taxi drivers, window cleaners and people dealing in bags of cash from becoming customers, Airdrie embraces small businesses.

The area, formerly centred on heavy industry, is dominated by public sector workers, although there is still a solid group of local businesses. Lindsay says there has been an upsurge of housebuilding in the area and it will also receive a boost from the extension of the rail-link between Airdrie and Bathgate.

Lindsay, who was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to a Scottish expat oilman, also lived on the shores of Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela as a child before returning to Scotland to live in St Andrews.

He was a graduate trainee with the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he spent 27 years, including stints in London as well as being former company secretary.

He was headhunted for the ASB post.

While Airdrie might appear a backwards step for a high-flier with the mighty RBS, the down-to-earth Lindsay has clearly found his metier. His boyhood may have been in exotic climes but it is clear that in his prime, he has put his heart and soul into north Lanarkshire.

"I'm a bit of a traditionalist by nature so it suits me to be involved in something like this - but you must not be too hamstrung by history, " says Lindsay.