Ian Corfield took up his new job as director of retail banking at the start of the month, giving him responsibility for transforming the shops Bank of Scotland has bought from the ESB into a national network of 46 bank branches, as well as building relationships with independent mortgage brokers and other outlets that sell Bank of Scotland consumer finance.

Corfield's seniority is underlined by his appointment to the five-man executive board responsible for the bank's day-to-day running. The other executive directors are chief executive Mark Duffy, Harry Slowey, Joe Higgins and Richard McDonnell.

Corfield has extensive retail banking experience, having been managing director for credit cards and loans at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). His appointment is a surprise, however, because Bank of Scotland had drafted in Chrissy Quinn from HBOS to head up its retail push.

A spokesman said Quinn's position has not changed with Corfield's arrival and she remains responsible for product development, branch openings and the bank's call centre, which employs 200 people in Dundalk.

Bank of Scotland opened its eighth branch last Tuesday in Drogheda, adding to those that have opened since the start of the year in Dun Laoghaire, Limerick, Ballyfermot, Swords, Wexford, Bray and Ballincollig. These will be followed in the coming weeks by branches in Ennis, Athlone and Dundalk.

Duffy said the bank will spend 160m building the network, adding that the money has been generated by Bank of Scotland's existing operations in Ireland rather than provided by HBOS.

It has launched a string of new retail products since January including a regular savings account paying 3.75% interest, low-rate credit cards and deep discount mortgages aimed at poaching customers.

Duffy claims that consumers could save more than 1,500 a year by moving to Bank of Scotland.

Corfield's biggest challenge will be to launch a current account over the next 12 months. The bank has fought a bitter battle to gain entry to the payments system and promises that its current account will be considerably better than those offered by existing banks.