Dave Burke appointed chief executive of NW Mutual

The co-operative society behind pioneering plans for a mutual bank based in and serving retail and business customers in the north west of England has appointed a senior financial services figure as chief executive of the bank. 

Dave Burke has joined NW Mutual Ltd, a co-operative society being launched in response to more than 50 per cent of traditional bank branches in the region having closed and the lack of banks based in and dedicated purely to serving the people, business and organisations of the north west. 

Entitled NW Mutual, once fully-licenced the ‘bricks, clicks and flicks’ bank will provide about 60 hi-tech and staffed branches throughout the north west including Lancashire complemented by mobile and online banking, providing retail and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers with a full range of financial products and services. 

Its target market is about 7.4 million people and 494,395 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the region employing more than 1.65 million people and generating turnover in excess of £239 billion in 2024. 

A highly experienced financial services executive with an extensive background in launching, building and managing regulated businesses, Dave has held senior roles at high street banks and retailers while also providing strategic consultancy services to major organisations seeking to enter financial services. 

Following a decade in London, Dave returned to his native north west as chief commercial officer of financial services with The Very Group before co-founding financial services consultancy Callemott Ltd. 

He said: “It’s an enormous privilege to be charged with sharing the prosperity and power that a bank creates with the people who create it. 

“Our market research, supported by a large body of public research and information, shows that there’s a real need and demand for a bank that is trustworthy, democratic, ethical, deeply rooted in the north west and that enough people and businesses in the region would use to make it a great success.” 

Dave added: “The north west is more than capable and large enough to create and sustain a prosperous bank. When we achieve our goals, our mutual bank will recycle more than £900m of money from the north west back into the region. 

“This is serious money and it’s already here but it’s not. We want to stop it leaking out and heading south, north or east.” 

David Milner, chair of NW Mutual Ltd, is an executive and non-executive director of regulated financial services companies, including being chairman of Dudley Building Society and Nottingham Imperial Building Society, where he negotiated a merger with Newcastle Building Society. 

He said: "I’ve been involved in the mutual world for over 50 years and remain committed to mutuality as the best model for financial services. I believe that the region will benefit greatly from NW Mutual and I am very pleased to add my skills and experience to make NW Mutual a reality. 

“Dave brings a wealth of experience and expertise to spearhead our drive to deliver a mutual bank owned by its customers, keeping the money of the north west safe and working for the region. 

Having already registered NW Mutual Ltd with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), regulator of financial services firms and markets in the UK, David is preparing a banking licence application to submit to the Bank of England in late 2025. 

If the licence is granted by the Bank of England, the first bricks and mortar branch is planned to open in the third quarter of 2026, with a full roll-out proposed for the first quarter of 2027. 

David explained that about £1m of investment has been made to build the systems and financial model of NW Mutual, prepare the banking license application and analysing its market.   

David and Dave are supported by NW Mutual Ltd non-executive director James Moore, bringing more than 25 years of boardroom experience with private and public businesses in sectors including financial services in the UK, China, Europe and Africa while also founding the Community Savings Bank Association. 

They are in the process of recruiting other senior executives to the board of NW Mutual including a finance director.