FORMER Standard Life chief executive Sir Sandy Crombie has taken up the chairmanship of Edinburgh-based peer-to-peer business LendingCrowd, adding to the portfolio of positions he has signed up for since leaving the financial services giant almost a decade ago.

Sir Sandy, who joined Standard Life as a trainee actuary in 1966 and served as its chief executive between 2004 and 2009, said he had joined LendingCrowd at “an exciting time for the business”.

“LendingCrowd has made impressive strides in a relatively short space of time, supporting the growth ambitions of hundreds of businesses,” he added.

Founded by chief executive Stuart Lunn in 2014, LendingCrowd matches small investors with small and medium sized businesses and so far has facilitated more than £45 million of loans to over 500 firms based across the UK.

Mr Lunn said bringing Sir Sandy on board is a “validation” of the firm’s business model.

“We have a strong focus on financial processes, regulation and compliance and Sir Sandy will bring invaluable knowledge and expertise around these issues and in supporting our strategic aims,” he said.

“I look forward to a positive, collaborative relationship with Sir Sandy as we drive scale into our business.”

In addition to LendingCrowd, Sir Sandy is chairman of tech start-up Amicus, a three-year old Edinburgh business whose software is designed to allow professional services firms to carry out money-laundering checks on prospective clients.

He is also president of the Cockburn Association, a charity that promotes the conservation of Edinburgh’s landscape and architectural heritage.

Sir Sandy joined the board of Royal Bank of Scotland after leaving Standard Life in 2009, not long after the bank was bailed out by the UK Government, but stood down from that position at the start of this year.

He was replaced in that position by Lena Wilson, the former head of the Scottish Government’s economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.

Earlier this year LendingCrowd raised £2.2m of external investment, with the fundraising being led by angel syndicate Equity Gap and including Scottish Investment Bank as well as a number of private investors.