Virgin Money looking to create an instant branch network
Virgin Money's new chairman Brian Pitman has today hit the ground running with a suggestion that the company is interested in acquiring branches which will at some stage be sold off by Lloyds bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. These branch selloffs were part of the EU agreement which allowed the UK government to bail out the two companies and it looks as though Brian Pitman, the former chairman of Lloyds TSB, is looking to acquire an instant branch network for the company.
Brian Pitman, who has been in the banking industry for many years, also believes that Northern Rock will not be sold off until the latter part of 2010, allowing the business to bed down and restructure for the future. Whether Virgin Money would be interested in acquiring the "good" Northern Rock bank remains to be seen because the company now has an increased presence and a banking licence which it intends to use to its full capacity!
More and more it looks as though Virgin Money is on the verge of becoming a prominent figure in the UK banking sector and potentially a prominent figure on the UK high street. Richard Branson does things very differently to traditional bankers and his particular characteristics coupled with the experience and knowledge of Brian Pitman could well be a match made in heaven for the growing Virgin Money machine.
Share this..
Related stories
Have you been shopping around for your motor insurance?
As we covered yesterday, the UK car insurance industry is set to hit customers with an average 14% increase in car insurance premiums. This comes at a time when UK motorists are being hit on all sides with increased road tax, increased petrol prices and now increased car insurance premiums. As we have mentioned on numerous occasions, it seems as though the UK motorists is, and always has been, "fa...
Read MoreMind the gender pension gap
Women not only suffer from the pay gap, but are also subject to the pension gap, new research from Scottish Widows has shown.More than one in three women of working age (35 per cent) do not have a pension scheme, compared to 22 per cent of men, and employers also contribute less to female staff's pensions (as a percentage of salary) than they do to men's, the survey revealed. Over half (54 per cen...
Read MoreWill tensions between Israel and Palestine affect the price of oil?
While Israel and Palestine are not directly linked to the worldwide oil sector there is concern of further unrest in the Middle East as the two sides continue their fierce battle. Despite a number of attempted ceasefire agreements it would appear there is little likelihood of a reduction in aggressions in the short to medium term. Israel has a number of enemies in the Middle East and there is conc...
Read MoreMortgage recovery floundering
Building societies, banks and other financial institutes have reported that it is not expected to see any significant recovery in the mortgage market next year. A new screening or vetting process may solidify the current restricted lending that is already in place, industry professionals have opined. This is somewhat corroborated by the fact that mortgage lending last month stood at £12.4 bn w...
Read MoreGovernment set to push for three month window of opportunity before repossession
The UK government has today announced plans to push through a three-month window of opportunity to allow those at risk of having their homes repossessed the chance to make amends. This is a very important move and one which appears to have the backing of at least one of the major UK banks. It is highly likely that the rest of the banking community will follow suit in order to be seen to be doing "...
Read More