Digital bank to recruit 1,000 tech experts in Manchester

Starling Bank is recruiting tech professionals in Manchester following the announcement of its latest office in the city.

The app-based bank is looking for people to fill roles in software engineering, data science and cyber security.

Starling said it was attracted to Manchester partly due to its “deep pool of talent hailing from its major universities.

“What better place to set up shop than in Manchester? As the world’s first industrial city, with three brilliant universities on its doorstep and a thriving technology scene, there was never any doubt that Manchester would house our first step into the north,” said Starling Bank founder and CEO Anne Boden.”

The bank’s Manchester office will open in the first six months of next year, but it is already hiring for the operation. Starling’s other operations are in London, Cardiff, Southampton and Dublin. About 2,000 people are employed in these four offices.

In May, the company added 500 people to its Cardiff base, including more engineers and data scientists, taking the total to 868. This is currently its biggest operation.

“We’ve expanded our headcount by 20% this year and only continue to grow,” said Susanna Yallop, chief people officer at Starling Bank. “Our sights are now firmly set on Manchester, where we can draw from its potential workforce of more than seven million, allowing us to grow our headcount even further with some of the north’s finest talent.”

Set up by former IT executive and digital banking pioneer Boden, Starling received its banking licence in 2016 and launched the following year. In October 2020, it made its first monthly profit of £800,000, becoming the first UK digital challenger bank to do so. It announced its first full year of profitability this year and reached the three million account milestone. It also recently launched a software-as-a-service offering, known as Engine.