Santander commences Abbey and B&B rebranding

by Gill Montia

Story link: Santander commences Abbey and B&B rebranding

Today (January 11th) marks the beginning of Santander’s rebranding of its UK operations.

Abbey and Bradford & Bingley (B&B) will both assume the group name in the initial phase of the exercise, with Alliance & Leciester (A&L) coming on board later in the year.

All three began life as building societies; Abbey was acquired by the Spanish banking giant in 2004 and the savings business and branch network of B&B were absorbed by the group at the height of the banking crisis in September 2008.

A&L was acquired in the same year.

Over one thousand Abbey and B&B branches are involved in the initial makeover.

In June of last year, Santander was named Best Bank in Western Europe by Euromoney Magazine, in recognition of the fit state of its balance sheet during the credit crisis.

Unlike a number of other leading European banks, the group has not require state funding but has rather emerged from the crisis with significantly enhanced positions in the UK, Latin America and Germany.