The lender reported the name alter sorts component of a method to align alone “with the manufacturer beneath which the greater part of our organization is delivered”, with all-around 80% of its consumer base coming from Natwest
Group PLC () has reported it will officially rebrand alone as Natwest Group PLC from July 22, retaining the RBS manufacturer at its Scottish branches but operating as NatWest in its other marketplaces.
The banking big, which also owns the Queen’s lender Coutts and is component-owned by the British isles taxpayer, reported it will make a subsequent announcement when the name alter takes outcome, when its ticker on the LSE will also alter.
Examine: RBS extends incentivised switching scheme deadline for enterprises
RBS reported the name alter designs form component of a method to align its team name “with the manufacturer beneath which the greater part of our organization is delivered”, as all-around 80% of the company’s consumer base originates from its Natwest division.
Nonetheless, the name alter might also be a transfer by the lender to finally attract a line beneath the lingering toxicity of its RBS name, which has continued to pervade since the 2008 economic disaster amid a litany of scandals above payment safety insurance plan (PPI), fee correcting and the behaviour of its Global Restructuring Group (GRG) organization device.
A report published by the Fiscal Conduct Authority (FCA) final calendar year located that GRG experienced mistreated tiny and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which ended up transferred to its management just after the crash, with an unbiased evaluate also uncovering evidence of designs to drain enterprises of money in get to acquire assets and equity and increase bonuses for selected workforce.
Rebrands: the fantastic, the bad and the unpleasant
RBS’s imminent rebrand also is the latest chapter in the chequered background of key company rebrands.
Most likely a single of the much more famed illustrations of a rebrand gone incorrect was the 2001 name alter of Royal Mail Group PLC () to ‘Consignia’, component of a method by then chief govt John Roberts to broaden the scope of the organization and endeavor to push into global marketplaces.
The £2mln rebrand turned an fast laughing inventory and lasted all-around sixteen months ahead of it was canned, with Roberts himself becoming consigned to the list of former CEOs of the company shortly just after.
Whilst Royal Mail’s small-lived rebrand was component of an effort to look to the foreseeable future of the organization, the rebrand of Arthur Anderson’s consulting arm to in 2001 was, a lot like RBS, a bid to slash the enterprise off from its poisonous past.
The moment a single of the most extensively revered accountancy companies, Arthur Anderson’s track record was still left in tatters pursuing its part in the individual bankruptcy of US energy big Enron, which was located to have utilised questionable accounting practices to disguise personal debt off its equilibrium sheet which experienced been signed off by Anderson’s accountants.
Nonetheless, some company rebrands have much more mundane goals in thoughts, such as the 2015 rebrand of research engine big Google to ().
The tech company fashioned Alphabet as a parent to the main research engine organization, which continues to be its premier asset, when also permitting it to scale the administration of its other organization arms, quite a few of which include things like investigate & progress companies making technology linked to self-driving cars and trucks and other so-referred to as ‘moon-shot’ initiatives.
Shares in RBS ended up .four% decreased at 121p in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday.
