John Stewart was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of National Australia Bank in February 2004. Mr Stewart was previously Chief Executive, Europe and Principal Board Member, a position he held since joining the group in August 2003.
Before joining the National, Mr Stewart was Deputy Chief Executive of Barclays PLC, a position he gained following the acquisition of Woolwich plc by Barclays in October 2000. His responsibilities included management of the Personal Financial Services and Private Client divisions, the Wealth Management business, and the successful delivery of the Barclays/Woolwich integration program, which delivered ongoing benefits of £400 million per annum to the group.
Mr Stewart joined the Woolwich in 1977, working in a wide variety of roles in the retail network. His achievements included the development of a financial services strategy for the business, which culminated in the establishment of a number of new successful new ventures for the Group. These included an IFA company (now one of the largest in the UK), a life assurance company and a general insurance business (both joint ventures with leading UK insurers), and a unit trust business which introduced a unique in-branch dealing service to the UK market. Other roles involved responsibility for the retail operations of the business, the lending and credit functions, and the negotiations and subsequent successful takeover of the Town and Country Building Society.
Mr Stewart was appointed to the Board of the Woolwich in 1995 as Group Operations Director and became Chief Executive in 1996. As Chief Executive he led the successful conversion of the business from building society to a bank, culminating in listing in the UK FTSE 100 in 1997. Mr Stewart also drove major cultural change in the business, which resulted in portfolio reappraisal, a strong focus on shareholder value and the launch of the ground-breaking Open Plan integrated banking solution, which helped the bank achieve one of the highest PE ratios in its sector. He also negotiated the merger with Barclays, which saw the Woolwich acquired for £5.8billion, a premium of more than 30% over its share price.