Banking giant Brian Pitman dies

Banking giant Brian Pitman has today died of a heart attack leaving behind many memories for those associated with the former head of Lloyds bank and of late the chairman of Virgin Money. After suffering a heart attack on Tuesday he died in hospital on Thursday morning with many of his former colleagues and acquaintances speaking highly of him early today.

Brian Pitman will be forever associated with the enormous growth in the Lloyds banking group under his stewardship prior to his retirement in 2001. He turned Lloyds bank into one of the biggest banks in the world having merged the company with TSB group and taken the operation to new levels. When the UK banking crisis materialised after the credit crunch and economic downturn he was called in to advise the government and indeed was part of a regulatory review board on his death.

While the UK banking sector is under significant pressure at the moment and many of its leading lights have attracted criticism from many quarters, Brian Pitman was one of the few banking giants to command respect wherever he went. Richard Branson called on his experience and his contacts to expand his Virgin Money operation and spoke very highly of the 78-year-old earlier today.