No sooner had the news that Bank of Ireland was about to merge with Alliance & Leicester (A&L) broken last weekend than the picture of Peter White appeared on the front of the business sections of some of the more serious UK Sunday papers. Lest there be any doubt, someone on the A&L side was letting it be known who would get the top job in the new institution.

Apparently Mr White was less than pleased with a comment in the Financial Times last Saturday, which said that the merger would allow him to run a larger operation in the UK. It had already been agreed that he would get the chief executive post, covering the Britain and Ireland. He will have a Bank of Ireland chairman above him and an Irish deputy managing director, but the A&L man will be in charge of the day-to-day running of the merged institution.

Peter White has a chartered accountancy background. He began his career in 1965 as an accountant at Price Waterhouse, but soon moved out into the financial sector. He worked in the Abbey National Building Society for 12 years, rising from management accountant to financial controller and treasurer. In 1982 he made the jump to the A&L, joining as general manager in change of finance, treasury and management services, and rising to the chief executive post in 1991.

He took up the reins at A&L when it was suffered, like many UK financial institutions, from provisions made on home loan lending in the late 1980s.

Since then the A&L has grown substantially, transforming in 1997 into a plc and recording profits of more than £450 million sterling (€686 million) last year. His biggest acquisition was Girobank, A&L's largest subsidiary and a fully authorised bank and has succeeded in spreading the bank's profits away from reliance on the mortgage market and in building it into an efficient institution.

One of Britain's higher paid executives, he netted £1.3 million from the flotation, including lucrative share options. Unions complained, with one senior official saying that management "are constantly seeking to cut staff and here they are with their heads in the trough". He was paid an annual package of £681,000 in 1997.

As well as cutting staff, Mr White had also engaged - soon after taking the top job in A&L - on a personal sliming regime, shedding stones on a diet programme which involved just grapefruit juice from dawn to 8 pm.

Outgoing and, at times, outspoken, despite the growth at A&L there are mixed views in the City of London and in Dublin about him becoming chief executive at the merged bank. The concern in Dublin is, perhaps, predictable. But even in London, some analysts were puzzled at the idea that Mr White, and not Mr Maurice Keane, would become chief executive.

"On the basis of the split alone, one would expect Mr Keane to be taking the top position," said one. Another added that Mr Keane "by any criteria" had more experience in retail banking than Mr White. Mr White's record was "reasonable enough", said another analyst. He added that Mr White had reduced Alliance & Leicester's dependence on the mortgage market, but that cost cutting and control was seen as his major talent.

"He will obviously be looking for the savings and synergies and maybe he is the man to do this, but I would certainly be cautious on the predicted cost savings of £200 million which we have heard," said another.

Others are more positive: "His aim in recent years has been to maintain Alliance & Leicester's independence in a fiercely competitive market, this deal gives him the chance to do that," said another. He has undoubtedly turned A&L into a leaner, fitter and more diversified operation and now has a chance to play on a bigger stage. His challenge now is to show that he can transform from a "building society man" into the head of a diversified financial grouping. Married, with one son and one daughter, he is known as a bit of an opera buff. He also lists watching sport as a passion and told an interviewer a few years ago that seeing England beat New Zealand in 1993 was a favourite memory. Like Pat McDowell, he is also a keen golfer - they will have much to discuss over a round of golf. But will they be playing in Dublin or London?