THE owner of Clydesdale Bank has warned of further potential job cuts as it hiked cost savings from the Virgin Money takeover and revealed plans to call time on its brands within two years.
CYBG, which also owns Yorkshire Bank, said it was rolling out further automation within its branches under plans to increase annual cost savings by an additional £50 million to £200m by 2022 – putting more jobs at risk on top of 1500 already set to go as a result of the Virgin Money deal.
It came as CYBG also said it will fire the starting gun on its rebrand to Virgin Money this year, starting with digital banking arm B, which will complete by next June.
This will be rolled out to Yorkshire Bank in 2019 and Clydesdale in 2020, with the entire business rebranded as Virgin Money by the end of 2021.
A spokesman said the additional £50m “might include some further role reductions and automation in the branch network and other operational areas”.
He continued: “We will continue to work through the details and will inform our colleagues first of any implications.”
Meanwhile, CYBG boss David Duffy said the decision to axe the 175-year-old Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank brands was “not an easy one”.
Duffy said: “Both brands are a by-word for reliability and trust and we understand the emotional attachment customers and local communities have towards them.
“The decision to retire brand names with such long and proud histories is not an easy one.”
He added: “Marrying the values and expertise of these heritage brands with the Virgin Money brand will allow us to realise efficiencies and grow our business throughout the UK.”
CYBG also outlined aims to boost its share of the personal current account market.
The group – which was catapulted into sixth place in the lending market after its Virgin Money acquisition last October – will launch the first ever Virgin Money business current account by summer 2020 and is looking to increase it market share from about 3.5% to around 5%.
Duffy said: “Despite the ongoing Brexit headwinds and continued competitive pressures, the strength of the combination gives us every confidence we will deliver on our targets.”
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