BANK of Scotland has announced a new head for its commercial banking operations in Glasgow and the west of Scotland, writes Greig Cameron.

Pete Flockhart moves from the bank's business support unit, where he led a team that worked with Scottish businesses in financial difficulty.

He will now be in charge of 16 corporate bankers tasked with working with west of Scotland and Glasgow businesses with a turnover of £25 million or more. He said he was looking forward to his new role and added: "Mid-sized businesses have a crucial part to play in growing Scotland's economy."

Mr Flockhart trained as a chartered accountant and spent time with PwC before joining Royal Bank of Scotland as a director of structured finance. He was then project finance director at property and construction firm Miller Group and moved to a mergers and acquisitions role at Giles Insurance Brokers. Since January 2010, he has been with Lloyds Banking Group.

Mr Flockhart signalled the bank is open for business to provide lending and advice. He said: "Businesses are looking for new investment and expansion opportunities and Bank of Scotland stands ready to help."