Heritage Bank has appointed a new head of business banking and flagged its ambition to grow strongly in the small and medium business segment.

The new head of business banking is Charlton Nevis, who has been at Heritage for 18 months running third-party distribution in the business banking division.

Nevis has worked at St George Bank, where he was head of commercial and business banking, Auswide, where he was head of third-party distribution, and Bank of Queensland, where he was a regional sales manager.

Heritage Bank chief executive Peter Lock said the bank was aiming to increase its business banking portfolio fourfold over the next three years.

At June 30 last year, Heritage had A$8.1 billion of residential loans, $142.9 million of business loans, $137.7 million of personal loans and $82.7 million of credit card balances.

Heritage has a new business banking centre in Toowoomba. Lock said the bank would adopt a relationship management approach to business banking, which he said would distinguish it from the “cookie cutter” approach of the big banks.