(Montreal) Worried about the vitality of downtown Montreal, the big boss of the National Bank, Laurent Ferreira, calls on the business people of the metropolis.
“I invite the entire business community to get involved in bringing life to downtown Montreal. It’s a shared responsibility and I urge you to honor it,” said Laurent Ferreira on Friday during a speech to the bank’s shareholders at the annual meeting.
“I’m worried about downtown Montreal,” he said in an interview after the meeting.
“Come back to Montreal,” he asks the business community. “Telework, let’s face it, is a white-collar business. »
The business community has a certain responsibility to revitalize the city center, according to him, because the ecosystem depends on it. “Restaurants, cafes, etc. can’t survive three days a week. »
A better balance is needed in his view between work in the office and at home. “If people come back downtown to work on average 80% of the time, it’s going to be better in the long run. If you’re trailing in the 30-40% range, I don’t believe smaller traders can survive with that kind of traffic. »
While the Royal Bank – the largest bank in the country – asks its employees to work three to four days a week in the office from 1is May, the National Bank maintains its telework guidelines which stipulate that employees must spend a minimum of 40% of their working time in the office. “But we encourage our teams more and more to come back,” says Laurent Ferreira.
The manager adds that it is however not one size fits all “. “It depends on the teams. Some are here at 100%. Others, less often. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
President and CEO of National Bank, Laurent Ferreira
The bank’s management says it observes that many companies have telecommuting policies well below the guidelines offered by the bank.
Laurent Ferreira wants a collective effort, but also send a message of support to small traders.
Move to new headquarters
The big boss of the National Bank hopes that the move of the employees of the Montreal financial institution to the new head office from July will help revitalize the city center.
Construction of the building erected at the corner of rue Saint-Jacques and boulevard Robert-Bourassa is nearing completion and the new building will be called “Place Banque Nationale”.
The organization will have 7,000 workstations to share with 12,000 employees in its new 40-story building, a more than half a billion dollar project first announced in 2018.
Discipline observed
Laurent Ferreira also maintains that the current economic context in the country does not worry him. He speaks of a “period of adaptation” to the rise in rates and says he observes a certain discipline in the consumer.
“We are seeing a decline in discretionary spending. We see travel spending still a bit high, but credit card balances are down. This is good behavior because monthly payments will be higher for those who are called upon to renew their mortgages by 2025,” he points out.
“We will get through it,” added the leader, speaking of the population’s ability to weather the current inflationary period.
We have people working. We still have a context where most companies are looking for employees. As long as the world has a job, we’ll get there.
Laurent Ferreira, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank
Of course, he expects economic growth to decline with the rise in interest rates, “but as a country and as a province in Quebec, we have a favorable and fairly resilient position,” he said.
Board Changes
Changes are made to National Bank’s Board of Directors. It will now have one less member, while three administrators are leaving the organization: Pierre Thabet, Jean Houde and Andrée Savoie. Two new faces replace them: the CEO of Transat, Annick Guérard, and the big boss of the builder Pomerleau, Pierre Pomerleau.
A member of the Board for five years, Robert Paré becomes the new Chairman of the Board following the departure of Jean Houde.
