Blackfriar: The question marks over future of Yorkshire Bank brand

The banks were also coy on the question of branch closures. The prospect of closures was played down by CYBG’s finance chief ​Ian​ Smith, who said it was “early days” for any estimates.​ Hmm.

​It’s also not clear whether the Yorkshire Bank brand name will survive.

It is understood that retail customers will switch over to the Virgin Money brand name and then it will be tested on small and medium sized businesses. The plan is that once the deal goes through, there will be a three year period to switch to the Virgin Money banner.

​However, the Yorkshire Post’s Greg Wright was told by CYBG’s chief executive David Duffy that no decision has been taken yet as to whether Yorkshire Bank brand will disappear and much of the detail surrounding the deal has still to be decided.

Right. So why does page 26 of the 91 page offer statement state: “CYBG will be required to operate at least 80 per cent of its Licensed Activities, calculated quarterly by reference to the CYBG Group’s turnover, under the “Virgin Money” brand, following the rebranding period which is expected to be no more than 3 years.”

Many customers have chosen Yorkshire Bank because they trust the brand. Will that be the same once they find they’re banking with Virgin Money?

Blackfriar took to Twitter to gauge the mood.

Brian Harris‏ ​tweeted: “When the CEO of CYBG claimed that rebranding the entire company as ​‘​Virgin Money​‘​ was a good idea because of its strong brand reputation I nearly spat my coffee all over the table.

​“​Yeah because Virgin much more reputable than errr Clydesdale or errr Yorkshire.​“​

Mr Harris has a point here. When Lloyds Banking group bought the Halifax at the height of the financial crisis there was never any doubt that the Halifax brand would be retained.

It attracts enormous loyalty and Halifax customers have faith in the brand. The Halifax is run as a separate operation and Lloyds would never dream of interfering with its independence.

Alun Williams‏ ​tweeted: “Merger deal aside, I can see a large degree of consumer resistance to the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank brands disappearing from the High Street!​“​

​I suspect CYBG may well come to regret the decision to switch to the Virgin Money brand. We will see how things develop.

For the 1,500 employees who face the axe, the name of their soon-to-be former employer won’t be the top thing on their minds​.

​CYBG and Virgin Money are supposed to be challenger banks, championing the customer after the banking meltdown 10 years ago. Yet the job losses, proposed name change and possible closures look more like the actions of one of the big five banks.

​CYBG needs to keep branches open if this deal is to get customers’ approval.