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Three of Britain's best known banking names — Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester — are to be scrapped in a move that will change the face of high streets throughout Britain.
Their owner, Spanish banking giant Santander, has decided the three brands — established in the 19th century — are no longer strong enough to be fully trusted by customers.
All 1,300 branches will be renamed Santander in a radical £12 million makeover by the end of next year.
But there were immediate concerns that the air-brushing of three competing high street networks could harm customers.
Kevin Mountford, head of banking at comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: “Consumers will need to keep their eyes peeled to see how this will affect them, as there can be no doubt the consolidation process will leave some casualties.
“There are currently three brands offering a range of different products, with different customer propositions. Individually Alliance & Leicester, Bradford & Bingley and Abbey all offered some well-priced, good value products that challenged the big four clearing banks.
“However, when all the brands are combined under Santander we must expect there to be a reduction in choice and competition on the high street.”
The three former building societies struggled to find their niche after floating on the stock exchange about a decade ago. They have all had to be bailed out by Santander after making heavy losses.
The rebranded branches will all carry the flaming torch of Santander as further evidence that in the new world of banking consumers trust a Spanish giant more than a home-grown demutualised building society represented by the bowler hats of Bradford & Bingley or A&L's distinctive orange and blue cross.
Santander's UK chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: “We asked our customers and they made it clear that they are ready and want to go to a strong, international bank brand. It will also give them significant advantages in that they will be able to use all the 1,300 branches across our network.”
But Simon Threadkell, creative director of brand consultants Fitch, said:
“I honestly can't see the benefit of scrapping three well-recognised brand names for something like Santander, which is not very well known at all in the UK market place.
“Personally I think it's very sad. I come from the next village to Bingley in West Yorkshire and those names have had a resonance with their local towns for over 100 years. It is a great shame the financial crisis has put paid to them.”
Andrew Simms of the New Economics Foundation think tank, which coined the phrase Clone Town Britain, said the move would accelerate the loss of diversity on Britain's high streets.
He said: “They had already broken the connection that made those brands vital and reassuring to people when they gave up being mutual building societies. Now the loss of the brands has completed that process. Ironically it comes at a time of resurgent interest in mutuals and proper relationships between banks and their customers.”
Santander is the UK's second-biggest mortgage lender.
Reader views (7)
Who cares, a bank is a bank no matter the name.
- Mutualminded, England, 28/05/2009 10:16
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Good luck to Santander, management based on skill will always outperform management based on priviledge.
- Mr Pastry, Brisbane, 28/05/2009 06:47
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The old brand names are tarnished, Santander can be as well known as the old names were. Without backing from Santander, they would not even be there. The public should know who they are really dealing with.
- Mal, Slough UK, 27/05/2009 17:51
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Who cares about the Abbey, it had a bad reputation for poor customer service, lets hope the new name brings about a change for the better.
- Mr S.Port, London, 27/05/2009 15:34
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Remember all that whingeing 2-3 years ago from the Daily Mail readers and other xenophobic commentators ?? - complaining that foreign companies were buying up huge swathes of UK businesses and nothing was 'British' anymore?....thanks goodness it happened as Banco Santander have made a far better job of running a bank than our own RBS/HBOS/B&B/Northern Rock management did. Congratulations to them, I toast their success and wish them greater success in the future.
- Dc, London, 27/05/2009 14:25
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Well the Building Societies are long gone; the Banks long past trusting; so who cares anymore what their names are?
Spend your earnings; have fun; and to hell with big business and banks.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 27/05/2009 13:39
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We have a few banks going cheap if the spanish want a job lot from the scottish
- Ge, Cornwall, 27/05/2009 13:24
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