Online banking: New business chooses Wrexham over London

A former HSBC executive behind a new online business said it had been easier to launch in Wrexham than London.

Andy Mielczarek, co-founder of Chetwood Financial, said "there's a great pool of local talent" in Wrexham and London was oversaturated.

Mr Mielczarek said he has plans to "double or triple" the workforce "over the next year or two".

The company, which employs about 50 people, is waiting for confirmation of a banking licence for savings accounts.

"We're the only person doing anything like this here," Mr Mielczarek said.

"There's a great pool of local talent, and it's easier, weirdly, for us to find the right kind of people working for us here, than say if we were in London.

"I think there's a saturation of those kind of businesses in London that gives us an advantage here."

Trading as LiveLend, the company opened as a lender on Wrexham Technology Park in September 2017 with £750,000 of business finance from the Welsh Government.

It will operate as a bank if granted a licence to hold savings.

The majority of employees live within an hour of Wrexham and the company aims recruit more.

"There are half a dozen experts that commute up from London on a weekly basis," Mr Mielczarek said.

"But we're 52 to 53 people now and they've been recruited locally. The vast bulk of the people that work for us are based in the local area.

"I can see us doubling or tripling from our current size over the next year or two."