Money
Issue No. 32 - December/January
NAB happier after a small rethink
Four years after coming back to SA, Richard Hockney finds himself very much at home with small business here.
The State Chair of National Australia Bank did the international rounds typical of South Australian achievers, holding positions at UK subsidiary Yorkshire Bank as well as various business banking roles for NAB interstate.
Always he has worked in support of SMEs.
“All my experience in banking has been dealing from the customer’s side,” Richard says, reflecting on his time in the north of England and in Melbourne where at one point he was responsible for about 150 client relationships.
“The difference here is that we have a smaller economy, but it’s very competitive - the most competitive I’ve seen.
“Therefore, I think the quality of an operation is important in the SME sector. Here, people have to be smart; they have to plan and have to think things through.
“In the eastern states, lazy people can do OK. The market...



