George Pickford

Origination Associate
Geography (MA) – Edinburgh University
George Pickford
Origination Associate
Geography (MA) - Edinburgh University


What did you know about RBS prior to working for them?

When I joined in 2004, I knew that RBS wasn’t the ‘little high street bank’ that some of my peers perceived it to be. I knew that they owned NatWest, Coutts and Direct Line. I also knew the bank was growing rapidly––and that it had a strong presence in leverage finance.  

What attracted you to working for RBS?

RBS wasn’t your typical investment bank. It appeared to be culturally different from the other places – entrepreneurial, driven, ambitious, but also modest.

Is there anything that surprised you after joining?

I always knew RBS was a large bank, but was surprised by the scale of its operations. The strength of it presence in the US – through RBS Greenwich Capital, Citizens and Charter One – was also a revelation for me.

What made you decide to go into your particular business area?

I originally started in the General Restructuring Group, dealing with businesses in distress. That part of the business was relatively quiet then, so when the opportunity to work in FI DCM came along I decided to make the switch.

What training and development opportunities have you received?

I initially spent six weeks on the graduate training programme. This has been followed by continuous support and training for CFA exams. Alongside this, I’ve also received general business training. For instance, I recently attended a three-day course on presentation skills.

How would you describe the culture/working environment?  

Resilient. RBS has suffered a lot of negative headlines over the last couple of years, but it is important to understand that those losses came from a small part of the bank. Many other parts of the bank continue to have market leading positions.

Is there anything that you’ve found particularly challenging or difficult in your role?

Lots of things.  Upward progress is never a smooth straight line; you have to work hard, be patient and be prepared when the opportunities present themselves.

How do you see your future with RBS?  What are you looking forward to?

I’d like to work abroad in the US or Asia at some future point. More generally, I’m looking forward to taking greater ownership of projects and pitches. I really enjoy the responsibility of leadership.

Is there any advice you would give to future grads thinking of joining RBS?

If you have the chance to join us, I’d advise you to grasp the opportunity with both hands.

What tips would you have for people joining now?

Always ask questions, always push yourself, and continually ask yourself what you can be doing better. Don’t be afraid to be ambitious. Over the next three to five years, there is going to be huge opportunity at RBS to make your mark.

What would you say to a friend considering joining RBS? How would you persuade them to join?

There is a huge amount of opportunity here. RBS has the people and infrastructure in place to rise back to the top quickly.

Do you have any anecdotes or stories from your time so far that are entertaining?

The time we had a rock-themed fancy dress party was pretty entertaining.

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What advice would you give to grads thinking of joining RBS?

The advice I'd give a graduate considering joining RBS would be – come and join RBS. I've worked with the other investment banks, I know what they're like and we are better than them. There's a huge amount of opportunity at RBS and the business has undergone some structural changes over the last 6 months or so. The business has had it's difficulties but those difficulties only relate to a small area of the business and I really think that those difficulties are behind the bank. We're working on some great deals now and I really see the bank over the next 3-5 years being right at the top of the league tables. So, come along.

How do you see your future with RBS?

I see my future with RBS as hopefully being an Associate Director within a year or two and then hopefully a Director within 3 to 5 years. There's a huge amount of opportunity at RBS at the moment, business is changing very quickly. I'm also keen to travel and there's a lot of opportunity at RBS to travel. We have offices across the globe but I would really love to go to Tokyo and also to Stamford which is in Conneticut, just outside of New York. We've got a huge operation there and there's been a lot of focus on that business and it would be great to get out there at some stage and be a part of that.

What are you looking forward to?

What I'm most looking forward to in my career is leading deals. So far we've had some great training and I've been very involved with the deals, I go along to the pitches and I make, hopefully, a good contribution but what I'm really looking forward to now is using the experience that I've gained and stepping up to the plate and leading. Leading the pitches, leading the deal team and winning some business. I'm also looking forward to travelling, looking forward to getting out of the office more and going to see clients across Europe and even in the States. Those opportunities are arising so looking forward to getting involved there.

What attracted you to working for RBS?

I was attracted to RBS because it's a British bank. It's a bank that was growing really quickly at the time and it was a bank that seemed slightly different from the other banks in the market place.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

What I enjoy most about my role is I've been very fortunate to work on some very big deals. I was involved in the RBS acquisition of ABN AMRO, a huge deal and the largest ever of that type. I guess the exciting thing is that as a junior person there are very few roles whereby you actually get such great contact with people so high up the tree and I've been very fortunate in that regard.