Davinder Mann has left UK Export Finance (UKEF) to become the first general counsel for the UK’s new state infrastructure lender.

Mann will be one of the founding members of the UK Infrastructure Bank’s (UKIB) executive team, the bank announced on June 8.

At UKEF, Mann held a variety of roles, the most recent being director of strategy, policy and climate change. A UKEF spokesperson says a search for her successor is underway.

UKIB says they were attracted by Mann’s experience overseeing complex transactions and compliance, and strong relationships across government, industry and financial institutions. Before joining UKEF in 2009, Mann worked as a lawyer for Linklaters and Herbert Smith.

The bank also named Ian Brown, of LGPS Central, as head of banking; Annie Ropar, formerly with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, as chief finance officer; Green Investment Group’s Peter Knott as chief risk officer and Patricia Galloway, formerly of DZ Bank subsidiary DVB Bank, as chief people officer.

“I am delighted to welcome Ian, Annie, Peter, Patricia and Davinder to the bank,” says UKIB chief executive John Flint. “This is an outstanding executive team who will take the bank to its maturity, and I am proud of the depth of talent that we have attracted.”

“We’re diverse by design at the UK Infrastructure Bank and this team will set the tone as we grow the whole organisation and deliver on our urgent mission to tackle climate change and boost local and regional economic growth across the country.”

UKIB was created by the UK government in June last year, with an initial £12bn in capital and a remit to provide cheap project finance loans to local councils and make investments in areas such as renewable energy, in order to help the UK meet its target of having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the decade. UKEF has also recently lost its long-serving chief executive, Louis Taylor, to the British Business Bank, another state lender.