So, it has finally happened – the rebrand that has felt like pulling teeth is nearing an end. Abbey, Bradford & Bingley and Alliance & Leicester are becoming Santander and all will, it seems, bear that curious coffee bean design (apparently it is supposed to be a flaming torch, much like the Olympics) already being sported by branches of Abbey. One wonders if new customers will walk in expecting a latte, and walk out with an ISA and five-year fixed rate loan.
We here at News Hour have been expecting this for some time, and look forward to more expensive rebranding antics featuring Lewis Hamilton, or perhaps some dancing torches animated by Pixar. Perhaps the cast of Mysterious Cities Of Gold could be drafted in to explain the philosophy of our new masters. It may be all of the above – they have until 2010 to finish it.
Customers will survive – if they stomached the demise of Woolworth’s, they can handle this – but you have to fear for the staff ahead of all the ‘synergies’ such a union would offer. Tonight’s BBC report touched on it, coming from London’s swanky Kensington, where a branch of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley sit cheek by jowl on the high street. How common a picture is that, up and down the country? Will both survive, given pricey high street rents? Does the squirrel decide? Tough times, tough times…
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 