Virgin Money kicks off re-brand to phase out Clydesdale Bank

Virgin Money will open its first wave of “ground-breaking” new branches next month as it phases out the Glasgow-headquartered Clydesdale Bank brand.

The re-branding programme will see the centuries-old Clydesdale Bank name disappear. Picture: John Devlin

The banking group will open the doors to newly re-branded Virgin Money flagship “stores” in Manchester, Birmingham and London in December – the first tranche of a wider roll-out in major cities across the UK.

It fires the starting gun on a £60 million re-branding programme that will see the centuries-old Clydesdale Bank name disappear from the high street.

This comes just two months after the group announced it will close Virgin Money’s St Andrew Square office in Edinburgh, along with sites in Norwich and Leeds, before the end of the year, as it looked to axe 330 jobs and cut “duplication”.

Virgin Money chief David Duffy praised the launch. Picture: Contributed

The Virgin Money brand roll-out follows the acquisition of Virgin Money by CYBG, the owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, for £1.7 billion in 2018.

Its new stores, open to both customers and non-customers, are designed to be a place for entrepreneurs to co-work and create, with an offering including free coffee, a venue for events and concerts, and a social media studio for content creation.

Alongside this, Virgin Money will also push the button on its first digital current account and mobile app, which it claims will position the group as a “genuine disrupter” in the banking market.

Virgin Money chief executive David Duffy described the new account as “bringing together the best in digital and mobile technology”.