It's all change at Quayle Munro as founder steps down and Peter Norris heads off to Virgin

SIR Richard Branson has poached the chief executive of Edinburgh investment bank Quayle Munro to beef up the experience on his Virgin Group board as he prepares to launch its banking operations in the UK.

In a shake-up of the Quayle board announced yesterday, Peter Norris will leave to join Virgin Group as chairman. Ian Jones, the founder and chairman of Quayle Munro, will retire in March.

Andrew Tuckey will become chief executive. He and Norris are former directors of Barings Bank. Tuckey will become chairman of the group when Jones leaves.

Norris, who had been chief executive of Barings for three months before "rogue trader" Nick Leeson brought it down, joined Quayle in 2007 when the merchant bank acquired his consultancy New Boathouse Capital.

Norris has advised Branson in a number of deals, in particular Virgin Money's failed attempt to buy Northern Rock two years ago.

Virgin's appointment of Norris will add weight to the belief that it intends to make a bid for Northern Rock. It has already applied for a banking licence.

The changes at Quayle mark a shift away from the group's traditional Scottish base, where it made its name acting as key adviser on public private partnership and public finance initiative deals.

Since last year's acquisition of Boathouse and the Van Tulleken Company, Quayle has moved strongly into advising on corporate transactions.

But the recession has taken its toll on the merchant bank. In September the group revealed that its profits had slumped from £4.2 million to £1.2m in the year to the end of June.

Founder Jones told The Scotsman that he will be 69 by the time of his departure and that he had delayed his retirement during the credit crisis.

"Economic times remain fragile, but there has been a lot of progress in the last 12 months," he said. "I was wary at the end of 2008, but at the end of 2009 things are a lot better on many fronts."

Although he said the group has moved "beyond its Scottish roots", he says its work advising schools and with companies in the North Sea oil and gas and renewables sectors means its Scottish office "is busier than London at the moment".