GRAHAM Cooper has been appointed by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group to head up its NatWest and Royal Bank commercial banking operations in West Kent. The team, based in Tunbridge Wells, also looks after Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and surrounding areas.

Graham lives with his family in nearby Rusthall and is well known within the local business community. He said: "The bank sees this patch as a growth area and has been happy to invest in even more locally based managers to add to our already strong representation.

"This will clearly enable us to further enhance the local relationship service that we offer to both our existing and potential customers."

In other moves, Gary Chown has become commercial manager and Paul Keddy business development manager.