AIB is planning to expand its team of agricultural advisors as it prepares to acquire loans worth €4.2 billion from Ulster Bank.

In February 2021, Ulster Bank announced its intention to withdraw all of its banking services in the Republic of Ireland.

In April, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) gave the green light to AIB to acquire Ulster Bank’s performing small and medium enterprise (SME) and agri commercial loans.

However, the CCPC did voice concerns about the competitive landscape of the Irish banking services market following the decision of Ulster Bank.

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In order to maintain its offering to farming customers, AIB has launched a recruitment drive to expand its team.

The bank currently has nine agricultural advisors and two agricultural specialists, which is headed up by AIB’s head of agriculture, Donal Whelton.

Former tillage writer, Stephen Robb, also recently joined the AIB advisory team.

AIB explained that it is seeking to fill two vacancies for an agri advisor and a senior agri advisor.

The roles will be located in north Leinster / Connacht and Ulster to service the areas which have a large Ulster Bank agri customer base.

The bank said that the new staff will support its growing agricultural customer base.

Speaking about the positions, Eamonn O’Reilly, AIB Agri Advisor team lead in the north and west said:

“In AIB we are very excited about welcoming agri customers from Ulster Bank. We are delighted to announce that we are growing our agri advisor team to ensure we can continue to support one of the key sectors in the Irish economy.”