Atom bank Buys North East Development House Grasp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UK’s first digital bank secures its place at forefront of customer experience innovation with the acquisition of Grasp (UK) Limited, headed by Eutechnyx/Zerolight founder Brian Jobling.

Atom bank, recently ranked 8th in KPMG’s Global Fintech listing and 1st in Tech World’s DigitalChallengers list is delighted to announce the successful acquisition of the IT development business Grasp (UK) Limited, owned by Brian Jobling. As part of the deal, Brian becomes Business Development Director at Atom. The development team from Grasp will now be part of the Atom family, based in Durham, and will bring extensive experience of working with some of the biggest consumer brands in the world including projects with F1, NASCAR, MTV and James Bond.

Edward Twiddy, Atom’s Chief Innovations Officer said “Our first conversations with Brian about what gaming and the North East development industry could offer, started in the Spring of 2014 when Atom was just an idea. Now on the cusp of going live and after several months of testing, we are bringing some of the best in digital design and development into the heart of the family. It’s great to have found such a talented and dedicated team. Their work is our shop window and we’re really excited about what has already been built, and all the future promises.”

Brian stated, “Atom bank is one of the most exciting projects in the North East and my passion for the region meant myself and the team couldn’t possibly turn down the opportunity to work with Atom longer term. An amazing development environment has already been created at Atom and it’s great to be part of a business with such enthusiasm and drive. Atom is rapidly expanding its development team and there isn’t a better place for top quality developers to hone their trade I look forward to continued working with Edward and the team to create a seamless and engaging user interface experience that will be appreciated by Atom’s customers.”

The acquisition of Grasp is part of Atom’s strategic plan to create the most engaging user experience in banking. In a single move, this brings together User-Interface expertise from the banking industry with experience from the video games industry. This combined experience in 3D technology and design visualisation is driving the differentiation of Atom’s customer’s experience.

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Editors notes: The Corporate Finance team, led by Hugh Welch (Senior Partner) and supported by Adam Rayner (Solicitor), at Newcastle-based commercial law firm, Muckle LLP, advised Grasp and Brian Jobling, on the sale of the business and the transfer of its staff, including Brian, to Atom bank. Atom bank was advised in the transaction by James Bryce at Square One Law. Square One Law is a commercial law firm based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

About Atom Atom is a start-up bank, not yet launched, but recently authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the PRA.

Founded over a year ago and based in the City of Durham, Atom has a growing team of 160 people drawn from across the country, working with partners to bring pioneering technology to Europe for the first time. Atom is building the UK’s first bank designed specifically for digital, offering easy and convenient banking, along with unique and engaging ways to manage money. Atom has been recognised in KPMG’s 2015 Fintech 100, being in the Top 10 companies using technology to drive disruption globally within the financial services industry.

The Atom executive team are highly experienced, having built and run some of the most well respected banks in the UK. CEO Mark Mullen has 25 years’ experience in the sector and was previously CEO at the multi-award winning telephone and internet bank first direct.

The team are supported by a strong non-exec board, which includes founder and Chairman Anthony Thomson, also the founder and former Chairman at Metro Bank. He is Chairman of the Financial Services Forum, the UK’s leading membership organisation for senior FS industry executives and Chairman of the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, a national charity. The investment requires satisfactory completion of the Bank of England’s controller process.

For more information visit atombank.co.uk. Full details of the extent of our authorisation by the PRA can be found on the Financial Services Register this technology is currently being integrated and will become available to customers using the Atom bank app shortly after launch.