Alba Bank will be headquartered in Glasgow By Kristy Dorsey A new bank focused on serving small and medium-sized businesses has launched a £5 million funding round ahead of what is expected to be its full operational launch later this year. Glasgow-based Alba Bank, headed by former Airdrie Savings Bank chief executive Rod Ashley, has appointed Seismic Opportunities Fund to run the Series A investment round in which it hopes to attract a variety of private and regional investors. Billed as the first Scottish-based challenger bank, Alba says it will offer an alternative to the “industrialised” model of major banks that has steadily reduced the number of customer-facing staff.