His move comes after the firm’s recent appointment of director Jane Parry, head of marketing and new business development, to the UK Board having joined Duncan Lawrie in May 2011.
Durant’s role is a first for the company and will seek to take advantage of his experience in the region having worked in the southwest for most of his 28-year career to date.
He joins from Clydesdale Bank where he was a senior partner responsible for running the Bristol team of corporate relationship managers. Before this he ran the Bristol/southwest branch of Allied Irish Bank after spending the first 18 years of his career at Barclays Bank.