for his work at Metro. The IEA noted that Hill "has identified a clear opportunity and entered the UK banking scene at a time when the sector has been under constant fire" and showed "incredible perseverance and imagination", while IEA director general Mark Littlewood praised Metro Bank as "a shining example of innovation improving people's live. It's refreshing to see more competition and choice in the banking sector on our high streets". In August 2013, Tom Brown of Bankstocks.com wrote, "So Vernon Hill has, not once, but twice, and in two different markets, built growth machines in the supposedly mature and sleepy banking business. That has to make him the world’s greatest growth-oriented banker, probably of all time." In the same month, Hill received the 2013 Stevie Award for International Chairman of the Year. In 2018, Hill faced criticism when it was reported that Metro Bank had engaged his wife's architecture firm, paying it £21m in fees, and also for his use of a £120,000 per year company expense allowance. Hill stepped down as chairman in October 2019. He remains on the board as a non-executive director, and will leave the board officially at the end of 2019. Book Hill is the author of Fans Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World, which was published by Profile Books in October 2012. It argues that it is better to have fans rather than customers and urges businesses to compete on service rather than price. The Financial Times reviewed Hill's writing style as "refreshingly to the point" and said that "for those looking for an alternate way of approaching service, the book will prove rich pickings". Other investments Hill was a partner with Steve Lewis in US Restaurants Inc, which operated 34 Burger King restaurants in metropolitan Philadelphia. Hill's first business was Site Development Inc, a real estate development firm which has developed over 1000 shopping centres and retail developments in America. In 1994, Hill, along with partners John Silvestri and Steve Lewis, founded and developed Galloway National Golf Club near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The course was designed by Tom Fazio and is ranked by GolfDigest.com as being among the top 100 courses in America. Business philosophy Fortune Magazine describes Hill as a "flamboyant, tradition-stomping American billionaire" and "the P.T. Barnum of banking". Hill has often advocated a business development strategy based on organic growth rather