020 7001 600021st November 2011:
NatWest and RBS's Chief Executive of Business and Commercial Banking has spent the day getting to grips with a life of grime.
Ian Cowie, the CEO who oversees banking to SMEs, spent the day with recycling firm Bywaters at their London sites as part of an initiative to get bankers closer to the businesses they're working with.
The scheme, known as 'Working With You', means that every business banker throughout NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland will spend two days working with one of their customers over the course of a year. As Chief Executive, Ian is no different and chose Bywaters' operation in Bromley-by-Bow to spend his working day.
Ian started work at 6:30am and spent the morning on a refuse collection vehicle (RCV) before spending the afternoon with the teams at Bywaters' Lea Riverside and Gateway Road sites.
Ian Cowie, CEO for Business and Commercial Banking for NatWest and RBS said: "It's been a real insight into the world of recycling and waste today to go round on a dust cart but also really satisfying to see how one of our customers supports the local community. I'd like to thank Bywaters for their hospitality and working me hard! This is an important initiative for us and it's only right that I am a part of that in my role as CEO.
John S Glover, Managing Director, Bywaters said: Bywaters is London's foremost MRF operator and beneath the surface of our very "real" operation is a commitment to innovation and continual investment in achieving sustainable practices. Recycling is at the forefront of many people's minds and today has been a good opportunity to see how, with the support of NatWest, Bywaters 'makes recycling easy'.
The idea behind 'Working With You' is that the bank's relationship managers and leadership team will think like a business when they are interacting with their customers, they will focus on what specific businesses need when making lending decisions.
Bywaters is London's leading independent recycling and resource management company, that started life in 1952 and in 2008 relocated from three sites on the Olympic Park to the new site in Bow. The company offers recycling and resource management services tailored to individual businesses across London and the South East and serve over 2,500 businesses.
