Ulster Bank is today expected to announce that Dr Alan Gillespie, the current chairman of the North's Industrial Development Board, will take over as chairman of the bank.

Northern Ireland-born Dr Gillespie, a former partner and managing director of merchant bank Goldman Sachs, emerged as a strong favourite to succeed Sir George Quigley, the outgoing chairman, several weeks ago.

The 50-year-old Cambridge graduate and past pupil of Grosvenor High School in Belfast has enjoyed a distinguished career in the financial services sector.

Dr Gillespie also worked for Citicorp Investment Bank for 10 years in London and Geneva before joining Goldman Sachs in 1986.

He was awarded his doctorate at Cambridge in 1976 for his thesis on "Growth Centres and Regional Economic Development in Northern Ireland". Dr Gillespie was a partner in the European investment banking division of Goldman Sachs before retiring in 1999 to take up the post of chief executive of CDC Group plc, a financial organisation owned by the UK government that operates in emerging markets.

He was also chairman of the Northern Ireland Partnership in Britain, the organisation that promotes Northern Ireland abroad through business contacts. Dr Gillespie has served as a non-executive director of Elan Pharmaceuticals and on the advisory board of the Judge Institute of management studies at Cambridge.

Although based outside Northern Ireland for most of his career, he also served on the board of the IDB for several years before his appointment to the top post at the job creation agency in 1998.

He was the youngest chairman to be appointed and quickly established a reputation as a no-nonsense, ambitious chairman who demanded results.

During his three years the IDB has consistently improved year-on-year performances. Dr Gillespie recently announced record job creation figures for last year of more than 7,000. He has enjoyed an increasingly high profile role since his appointment as chairman. Dr Gillespie is married with two teenage children.