Santander. Credit: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg

Ashurst has beaten 11 firms to a mandate advising Santander on attracting businesses to switch commercial accounts from RBS, as part of a government scheme to boost competition.

The firm said its Glasgow base was as a key competitive advantage during the three-month competitive tender process, which included client visits to its Scottish site operations.

Ashurst is supporting Santander with the onboarding and end-to-end documentation process for its commercial customers.

The firm's global head of banking Lee Doyle is the partner in charge of the project, supported by its Glasgow head of legal Sarah Byrch.

A team of up to 50 legal analysts and qualified transaction lawyers based in Glasgow will work on the process.

Doyle told Legal Week: "We are excited by the groundbreaking use of technology that will assist Santander in both managing its risk processes and, importantly, provide a new level of customer experience to their ultimate clients.

"We have invested heavily in creating a leading technology-based capability and see this project, and the tech and processes created, as an exciting evolution of our offering, enabling us to support Santander in providing best-in-class service delivery to [its] clients – a value we both share."

Ashurst currently sits on the bank's U.K. and global legal panels, along with Eversheds Sutherland.

Other firms to win roles on the U.K. roster in its most recent review included Slaughter and May, Reed Smith, Taylor Wessing, Dentons and Hogan Lovells.

As part of its bailout of RBS during the financial crisis, the government created a state aid package to help develop rival business banking offers.

Santander was one of the successful banks to benefit from the package.