A Scottish bank is EXPANDING

With news that RBS is set to make a(nother) round of redundancies - this time 440 posts are going in its Direct Line insurance business in Glasgow - Scotland's banking sector could do with a pick-me-up.

Step forward Airdrie Savings Bank, the stolid institution that remained one of the last vestiges of prudent Scottish banking values throughout the financial crisis, which is planning a (predictably modest) expansion north of the border.

The aim is to create one, possibly two, new branches over the next 18 months and look to develop and internet banking platform having secured around 10m in backing from prominent local businessmen.

Brian Souter, Ewan Brown, Alastair Salvesen, Sir Tom Farmer, Ann Gloag, Sir Angus Grossart, Sir David Murray and DC Thomson & Co Ltd are all on the list of supporters.

"Airdrie Savings Bank, as you would expect, is approaching expansion with caution. We will dip our toe in the water by opening one branch at a time to prove the sustainability of growth before considering more ambitious plans," said Bob Boyle, president of Airdrie Savings Bank.

The bank turns 175 years old this year and, according to an author who's written a book on its history, "stuck to its knitting" rather than get involved in risky deals like its larger Scottish peers in recent years.

It was only April when Robert Boyle, the president of the board of trustees at Airdrie Savings Bank, boasted about how it beat the recession through sticking to the ethos of thrift and temperance.

At the time, the bank declined to comment on recruitment plans when we got in touch. But while Scotland's retail banking sector continues to exhibit anaemic signs of growth, any expansion - no matter how modest - should be welcomed.