Virgin sells off Church House Trust

SIR Richard Branson’s Virgin Money yesterday announced the sale of Church House Trust, the small English West country private bank that it bought in January 2010 to gain its first banking licence.

The sale of the deposits and mortgages bank– for an undisclosed price – is to SAV Credit, the UK’s leading specialist credit card lender, with about 500,000 accounts and £500 million in credit card assets under management.

Virgin Money, which employs nearly 100 in Edinburgh, acquired the former taxpayer-owned Northern Rock in January of this year. It is understood Virgin Money has now decided it makes strategic sense to only have one licence.

Virgin paid £12.3m for Yeovil-based Church House Trust, with £50m in deposits, £20m in mortgages and 3,000 customers. It employs about ten people and it is understood the bank will remain in the Somerset town.