FOLLOWING the recent retirement of Cairns Bank’s general manager Peter Phillips, Liam Tiernan has been appointed as CEO and will lead the bank into the future.
For the last 18 years, Peter Philips has been the General Manager of Cairns Bank, helping to steer and grow the company however 2023 marks the end of an era, as Peter has decided to retire from the role after a lengthy and much-admired contribution to the bank’s ongoing success.
At the same time, this decision also marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Cairns Bank with Mr Tiernan being appointed as CEO.
Mr Tiernan brings a wealth of experience to the position, having worked in many facets of the customer-owned banking sector across the last two decades.
His banking experience extends all the way back to his hometown in Tasmania where his first job out of school was with the local branch of the Commonwealth Bank.
After more than 18 years with the Commonwealth Bank, Mr Tiernan was looking for a new challenge and he found it with an exciting role at Bank of Us, Tasmania’s only customer-owned bank.
Mr Tiernan then moved on to become the CEO of Dnister Ukrainian Credit Co-operative Ltd in Melbourne whilst also serving as the Executive Chair of the Small Australian Mutuals Network.
Working at customer-owned banks has allowed Mr Tiernan to embrace his passions – helping people with their money and developing close relationships with the local community.
“I like the idea that the members actually own the organisation, so you haven’t got that compromise of purpose between shareholders on the one side and your customers on the other,” Mr Tiernan said.
Cairns Bank has embarked on a new digital strategy, aiming to offer more digital services to our customers.
“We believe Liam and our newly appointed Chief Information Officer, Geoff Ryan, are the perfect team to lead this project,” a bank spokesperson said.
Cairns Bank chair Michael Wenzel welcomed Liam to the Cairns Bank family and is looking forward to working with him on some exciting projects in 2024 and beyond.
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