B&B bank branches get new owners

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/7642158.stm

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Northern Ireland's two Bradford and Bingley branches are now under new ownership following the nationalisation of the bank and sale of its outlets to Abbey.

Bradford and Bingley also has agencies in Holywood, Portadown, Armagh and Kilkeel where customers can carry out transactions.

Abbey's owner, the Spanish bank Santander has spent £612m on acquiring B&B's savings business and branches, including 2.7m customers, £20bn in deposits and nearly 200 branches.

The group already owns Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, so the deal will give it 1,286 branches and a 10% share of the UK retail savings market.

Staff at B&B's Belfast branch reported a quiet morning's business, saying there had been no rush of depositors looking to withdraw their money.

Only one customer emerged to complain that he and his wife had not been able to withdraw funds from an investment which is due to mature next year.

The couple said they were worried about the security of the entire banking system.

'Business as usual'

But most customers emerging from the Chichester Street branch appeared relaxed about the safety of their money.

Staff behind the counter, though, admitted they were a little worried about their future.

All they knew was what they had read in the papers at the weekend.

They said that Bradford and Bingley had around fifteen staff split between its branches in Newtownards and Belfast.

Last week, B&B announced 370 job cuts among its 3,000 staff, and said more were set to go at its Bingley head office, which employs 1,400 people.

A call to Abbey, the new owner of B&B's branches, produced the response that it's business as usual.

Reassuringly for local B&B staff, the Abbey press office said branches would remain open and the Bradford and Bingley brand would stay.

In Northern Ireland, as elsewhere, Abbey has a huge presence in the financial market

In the UK, Abbey has 705 branches, operates over 2,500 cash machines and employs 16,000 staff.

The plan for now may be to maximise deposits by keeping branches open.

Bradford and Bingley staff, though, may wonder just how long that will continue given the close proximity of some Abbey and B&B branches on the high street.