Santander begins re-branding former Abbey and Bradford & Bingley branches

The Spanish banking giant Santander has begun its re-branding scheme that will see all 1,045 branches of the former Abbey and Bradford & Bingley banks bear the parent name Santander.

Abbey was bought by Santander in 2004, before going on to buy both the Bradford & Bingley and the Alliance & Leicester in 2008.

The Alliance & Leicester branches are due to be renamed later on in the year.

All existing customers that joined under the Abbey brand have been assured that accounts will already have switched or be in the process of being switched over to Santander, with all further correspondence received regarding products and accounts to be from Santander.

The change will push the Santander brand up to the fifth largest bank accounts provider in the UK, with 25 million savings account holders and borrowers.

The re-branding process will cost the bank £15m, starting with 300 Abbey and Bradford & Bingley branches in the south-east, followed by the remaining branches later this month.

As well as re-branding the branches themselves, around 9,500 staff have been issued with new uniforms, as well as 971 cash machines, 27 company internet sites and thousands of separate items of stationary being branded with the new name.

Alison Brittain, a Santander executive, said that now was a good time to have a new name on the High Street.

"The Santander brand is untarnished during the credit crisis, it is very strong and secure," she said.

"We operate as a challenger on the UK High Street and, having 1,300 branches, it is going to be great."

Santander is regarded as one of the strongest and safest banks in the world, a position achieved through firm banking principles; a strong focus on retail banking, a prudent approach to lending, maintaining sensible capital ratios and spreading risk across several geographical areas.

UK Holidaymakers travelling to Spain will be happy to hear that all customers can now also use Santander cash machines in Spain without paying any fees.

Written by Sam Gooch