New chief executive Luqman Arnold pledged to ‘turn banking on its head’ under the new guise which has dropped the famous logo of the couple under an umbrella.
he group employs several hundred staff in Jersey as part of its offshore operation.
he rebranding – which will cost around £11 million – is designed to revive Abbey’s fortunes following losses of £984 million last year.
Out go complex financial jargon and lengthy queues and in come simpler bank accounts and services.
he facelift will also see the introduction of new branding featuring the word ‘abbey’ in blue, green, orange or pink with Abbey’s high street branches set to be refurbished from April.
ne City analyst said the redesign, while expensive, represented just a fraction of last year’s losses.
This is a relatively small amount of capital which, if it works, could get this company back to where it was just a few years ago – successful and innovative,’ he said.
crapping the old name spells the end of a familiar high street brand dating back to 1944 when the Abbey Road and National building societies merged.
r Arnold, who replaced Ian Harley, said: ‘We want to turn banking on its head.
We’ve got a long way to go before we’ve fully achieved that, but when we do, the new Abbey will be part of the real world, the customer’s world, not the baffling world of banking.
Besides the snazzy logo and revamped accounts, union leaders warned that Abbey could also be about to turn workers’ lives upside down.
taff will be expected to adopt a new working ethos involving simpler language, smart new clothing and greater flexibility when dealing with customers.
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