Coutts & Co, the private banking arm of Royal Bank of Scotland, aims to treble the size of its Private Office team over the next three years, Reuters reports, following an interview with Duncan MacIntyre, head of the division.

Coutts Private Office, which manages £4.5 billion (around $7.6 billion) in assets on behalf of 180 clients, currently has seven bankers and Mr MacIntyre said he wants to boost his team to 23 by 2013. Six bankers will be added by the end of next year, he is reported to have said.

The recruitment drive will be focused on the UK, with the unit also looking to expand into Asia and the Middle East. "The UK for us is still where it's at," said Mr MacIntyre, who estimates that 5,000 potential clients live in the UK. Clients of Coutts Private Office must be worth a minimum of £10 million and predominantly comprise entrepreneurs who have sold their businesses, along with those from the sports and entertainment industries.

Over the past few years Coutts has been prominent for its regional expansion in the UK, launching a series of offices in locations such as Exeter and Cheltenham.  In more recent developments, last week the bank announced the appointment of Paul Johnson as managing partner for Coutts in the Thames Valley and East Anglia region – a role which carries responsibility for the Oxford, Reading, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Norwich offices. 

RBS, meanwhile, has recently announced wide-ranging plans to shed assets to comply with European Union rules on receipt of state aid. To date, there has been no suggestion that RBS intends to sell Coutts or its sister international private bank, RBS Coutts.