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Feature Article | Pioneering Tech in Traditional Banking: Lessons in Leadership From Dame Alison Rose
Dame Alison Rose framed NatWest’s digital shift as “relationship banking for a digital world,” proving legacy banks can modernise without abandoning their broader responsibilities. She scaled digital adoption and video banking, used tech to remove operational friction inside the bank, and set a clear ethical stance on customer data as trust infrastructure. The playbook also leaned on smart partnerships, meeting customers where they are online while still serving vulnerable an
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 91 min read


Feature Article | Dame Alison Rose’s commercial masterclass: Delivering value during NatWest’s crisis-era transformation
When Dame Alison Rose took over NatWest in 2019, the bank was underperforming, still majority government-owned, and heading into a once-in-a-generation shock to the sector’s revenue model. Rose responded with a customer-led commercial turnaround that broke down internal silos, paired $3 billion of targeted investment with $2 billion in cost out, and rebuilt operational performance from the ground up. The result was a reset in customer satisfaction, brand momentum with younger
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 91 min read


Feature Article | Dame Alison Rose Takes on Pivotal Role Shaping Global Real Assets Sustainability as GRESB Chair
Dame Alison Rose has been appointed Independent Non-Executive Chair of GRESB, the global sustainability benchmark used by investors guiding over $53 trillion in real assets. Building on her NatWest climate strategy and wider net-zero leadership roles, she now moves into the centre of real estate and infrastructure decision-making, where data transparency and resilience increasingly shape capital allocation. The appointment signals how sustainable finance leadership is shiftin
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Female Entrepreneurship in the UK: Dame Alison Rose Mission to Overcome Barriers
Dame Alison Rose’s 2019 Rose Review reframed female entrepreneurship as a £250 billion growth opportunity for the UK economy. She breaks down the real blockers, from access to VC and relatable role models to caring responsibilities, then shows what changed the numbers: specialist banking teams, a £2 billion fund, 14 free accelerators, banker-in-residence partnerships, and early pipeline programmes like Dream Bigger. The result was a 33% jump in women-founded businesses in 202
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Dame Alison Rose Champions Imperial's Groundbreaking WE Innovate National Network for Women Entrepreneurs
Imperial College London is launching WE Innovate National, the UK’s first university network dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs. Expanding Imperial’s WE Innovate model across five universities, the six-month programme will support 150 women-led teams each year with masterclasses, coaching, expert 1:1 support, peer mentoring, and £30,000 prize funds at each institution. A rotating national Demo Day and an ongoing alumni WE Network are designed to tackle the Rose Revie
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | From Graduate to Groundbreaker: Dame Alison Rose’s 30-Year Journey in Banking Leadership
Dame Alison Rose never planned to become CEO of NatWest. Starting as a nervous graduate in 1992, she built her leadership style by staying curious, learning from radically different managers, and treating banking as a team sport. In this story, she shares the simple career principles that shaped her rise, from the “magpie” mindset to the power of perspective and authentic mentorship. Read the full article here.
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Dame Alison Rose joins AI pioneer ThetaRay as banking embraces cognitive technology revolution
Dame Alison Rose joins ThetaRay’s Advisory Board, bringing the former NatWest CEO’s frontline experience in trust, compliance, and digital transformation to a Cognitive AI company focused on stopping financial crime. Alongside Ilan Kaufthal and Marshall Lux, she will help guide ThetaRay’s push to modernise correspondent banking and secure cross-border payments. The move builds on Rose’s legacy of purpose-led banking, including her work on the Rose Review and expanding access
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Sustainable Banking: Dame Alison Rose’s Approach to Climate Change and Corporate Responsibility
Dame Alison Rose explains how she put NatWest at the forefront of sustainable finance with a three-pillar climate strategy: cut the bank’s own emissions, reduce exposure to high-carbon sectors, and fund the transition at scale. She details how NatWest set net zero and net positive targets, pushed oil and gas clients to produce credible transition plans, and tied lending incentives to sustainability milestones. Rose also breaks down the bank’s green financing push, plus the pr
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | From Meeting NatWest’s Emissions Goal to Managing CEO Responsibilities: Alison Rose on the Thinkin Podcast
NatWest leadership systems, customer trust, net zero strategy, funding the transition, crime prevention investment, and UK SME resilience.
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Behind The Scenes of Alison Rose’s CEO Approach on Leaders with Lacqua
Dame Alison Rose sits down with Francine Lacqua to reflect on her 30-year rise at NatWest, why she led with a purpose-led strategy, and how she navigated ambiguity through Covid, inflation shocks, and the early impacts of the war in Ukraine. She explains what it took to rebuild trust in banking after the financial crisis, why falling below 50% government ownership mattered, and how NatWest supported households and SMEs with fixed-rate borrowing, mortgage planning, and practic
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Podcast Feature | Alison Rose on ThinkIn: Overcoming barriers to female entrepreneurship and serving customers through difficult times
Dame Alison Rose unpacks what the Rose Review surfaced about why women founders still struggle to access capital, including low awareness of funding routes, limited role models, and the high stakes of over-levering with debt or giving away equity too early. She then connects those insights to how she led NatWest through Covid, expanding digital support tools, launching Entrepreneur Accelerators across the UK, and balancing shareholder returns with the responsibility of servin
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Podcast Feature | Alison Rose Talks All Things Women in Banking and Being a Relatable Leader on the In the Arena Podcast
Dame Alison Rose, former NatWest CEO and architect of the Rose Review, shares how she built high-performing teams by hiring people stronger than her, creating a culture for “good fights,” and staying focused on outcomes. She also explains why unlocking female entrepreneurship is both an economic growth strategy and a leadership mandate. Listen here.
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Dame Alison Rose on Leadership, Digital Transformation, Female Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability
Dame Alison Rose reflects on the decisions and leadership traits that shaped her rise from NatWest graduate trainee to the first woman CEO of a major UK bank. She breaks down how banking is changing with neobanks, social-first customer relationships, and rising crypto-related fraud, then connects the dots to her work on female entrepreneurship through the Rose Review. She also shares why she treats climate change as a true emergency and what practical support SMEs need to tra
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Feature Article | Highlights From the Dame Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship 2023 Progress Report
The Alison Rose Review is tracking what is changing for women entrepreneurs in the UK, and where the biggest gaps still are. This post highlights the 2023 progress report’s headline wins, including record numbers of women starting businesses in 2022 and major growth among 16 to 25-year-old founders, then zooms in on the barriers that keep showing up, especially access to funding and disproportionate caring responsibilities. It also covers what the Review is committing to next
Lindsey Schlandt
Jan 81 min read


Dame Alison Rose takes first job since leaving Natwest after Nigel Farage debanking storm | Feature Article
CITYAM.COM — Dame Alison Rose has re-entered the business world as a senior adviser to Charterhouse, a London-based private equity firm...
Lindsey Schlandt
May 22, 20251 min read


Ex-NatWest CEO Dame Alison Rose joins private equity firm Charterhouse | Feature Article
FNLONDON.COM — Dame Alison Rose, former CEO of NatWest Group, has returned to the business landscape as a senior strategic adviser at...
Lindsey Schlandt
May 22, 20251 min read


Meet the Speaker BritishAmerican Business | Featured Speaker
BABINC.ORG — Dame Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest Group, brings over 30 years of banking experience to her leadership role. Rising through...
Lindsey Schlandt
May 21, 20251 min read


We Are The City | Feature Profile
WEARETHECITY.COM — Dame Alison Rose is the former Chief Executive of NatWest Group plc, where she spent over three decades shaping the...
Lindsey Schlandt
May 21, 20251 min read


Principal Post: In Brief with Dame Alison Rose | Feature Interview
PRINCIPALPOST.COM — Dame Alison Rose—trailblazing former CEO of NatWest and current senior strategic adviser at Charterhouse and Mishcon...
Lindsey Schlandt
May 21, 20251 min read


Challenging Corporate Sexism: A Women on Boards Conversation With Alison Rose | Feature Article
THEBOSSMAGAZINE.COM — Dame Alison Rose, former CEO of NatWest Group, has become a powerful voice for gender equity in business. In a...
Lindsey Schlandt
May 21, 20251 min read
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