Benny Higgins

Benny Higgins
Born	1960 Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation	Banking professional
Years active	1983–present
Known for	Former CEO of Tesco Bank

Benny Higgins FRSE is a Scottish banking professional and former chief executive officer of Tesco Bank.

Upbringing

Higgins grew up in Prospecthill Circus, Toryglen, Glasgow, and received his education at Holyrood Secondary School.

Career

Following the completion of a mathematics degree at the University of Glasgow, Higgins commenced his career at Standard Life in 1983, where he qualified as an actuary and progressed to the role of investment manager.

In 1997, he joined Royal Bank of Scotland and rose to become CEO of Retail Banking, contributing significantly to the creation of Tesco Personal Finance. He played a key role in the acquisition and integration of NatWest in 2000. By the time he left in 2005, he was responsible for overseeing RBS’s Retail Bank operations, encompassing both RBS and NatWest brands.

Higgins took on the position of head of Retail Business at HBOS in January 2006 but departed the following year. His cautious approach to mortgage lending led to a decline in HBOS’s new mortgage market share from 16% down to 8%. Although officially unrelated, market analysts associated his exit with this outcome.

After a short break, Higgins returned as CEO of Tesco Personal Finance (which later became Tesco Bank) after Tesco acquired RBS’s shareholding in 2008. In 2009, he authored Putting Tesco into Banking and Insurance, detailing Tesco’s strategy to become a prominent financial services provider for its clientele. By 2017, he was chairing the regulatory technology company Kyckr.

In 2017, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appointed Higgins to support the Scottish Government in founding the Scottish National Investment Bank, aimed at boosting infrastructure investments.

In 2019, he assumed the chairmanship of the estate company managing the holdings of the Duke of Buccleuch, overseeing an extensive family property portfolio.

Honours and awards

Higgins was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2018.

Other interests

During the late 1970s, Higgins played football for Glasgow Celtic, captaining their youth squad. In 2017, he accepted an unpaid chairman position at the National Galleries of Scotland, and in 2018, he became chairman of Sistema Scotland, a charity focused on children’s orchestras.

At an HBOS investor gathering, while his corporate colleague Peter Cummings expressed strong confidence about future prospects, Higgins offered a more measured perspective by referencing the tale of Pollyanna, emphasizing prudence alongside optimism.