Vernon Hill
While taking morning classes at Wharton, Hill worked afternoons at a South Jersey bank owned by a local car retailer, where Hill observed the car dealer applying retail principles to banking operations, such as late opening hours.
Hill claims his experience with McDonald's taught him the importance of standardised presentation and scale economies in retailing.
[4] Philadelphia Magazine reported that Hill's experience with McDonald's [5] led directly to the creation of Commerce Bank.
Referring to the creation of Commerce, Morton Kerr, chairman of the board of Markeim-Chalmers, Inc., a South Jersey real estate firm, and one of the original Commerce board members, observed: "A lot of us knew Vernon from being involved in real estate at that time…He was a 26-year-old kid who called about 15 of us to a meeting in his office.
[10] On June 29, 2007, Hill resigned as chairman and CEO of Commerce Bancorp after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the board of directors of Commerce Bancorp established governance to stop doing business with firms under the control of Hill's family.
Some industry commentators held that Hill's departure and a strong Canadian dollar had made a takeover inevitable.
[12] Hill is chairman of Fetch Inc., a pet health insurance company founded by Chris and Natasha Ashton.
[15] In 2008, an official report from the Office of Fair Trading concluded that UK banking was subject to weak competitive pressures and profit-maximising strategies.
[16] Forbes magazine described Metro at launch as "...aiming to disrupt a storied industry dominated by a handful of established players".
[17] In a BBC News interview, Thomson commented that the cost–driven model of traditional British banks required them to discourage customers from visiting branches, whereas Metro Bank's model actively sought to attract customers into branches, using tactics such as longer opening hours and pet-friendly policies.
In June 2012, the company announced the completion of a £126m round of capital-raising to open further branches in London, including funds from Moore Capital and the billionaire investor Steve Cohen.
The IEA noted that Hill "has identified a clear opportunity and entered the UK banking scene at a time when the sector has been under constant fire" and showed "incredible perseverance and imagination",[25] while IEA director general Mark Littlewood praised Metro Bank as "a shining example of innovation improving people's live.
[25] In August 2013, Tom Brown of Bankstocks.com wrote, "So Vernon Hill has, not once, but twice, and in two different markets, built growth machines in the supposedly mature and sleepy banking business.
[27] In 2018, Hill faced criticism when it was reported that Metro Bank had engaged his wife's architecture firm, paying it £21m in fees, and also for his use of a £120,000 per year company expense allowance.
The Financial Times reviewed Hill's writing style as "refreshingly to the point" and said that "for those looking for an alternate way of approaching service, the book will prove rich pickings".
[33] In 1994, Hill, along with partners John Silvestri and Steve Lewis, founded and developed Galloway National Golf Club near Atlantic City, New Jersey.
[34] Hill has often advocated a business development strategy based on organic growth rather than acquisition, and by generating customer loyalty through service rather than price.
Speaking to a 2010 House of Commons Treasury Select Committee on competition and choice in the banking sector, Hill said: "My opinion is that great retailers never grow by acquisition…If you see yourself as a retailer delivering an unusual service, acquisitions are the easiest way to kill your model…[Organic growth] is slower, but you get what you want at the end.
"In its 2007 20-20-20 Club, Forbes magazine listed Hill as one of seven CEOs (along with Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison) of publicly-traded companies with tenures of over 20 years to deliver an annual shareholder return in excess of 20%.
He graduated from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1967, earning a BS in economics with a concentration in finance.
