Metropol

This may be old news but I haven't seen it posted here:

Martin Phillp wrote:HSBC are planning to rebrand their high street banks to ring-fence it from the rest of the business.
A return to Midland Bank perhaps?

I see the decision has been made to call the retail operation HSBC UK from 2018 instead of doing anything radical.

In other bank-related news, most RBS branches I've seen recently are now back as "Royal Bank of Scotland" in full, complete with new signage. Not sure how long this replacement has been underway, but it seems the sign-making industry is one that can rely on money from banks.

EDIT: Looking back, seems it was announced this time last year, with the Corstorphine trial branch spotted by Ant much earlier in 2013.

Not sure it's been covered, but Williams and Glyn also seems to have a logo now too.

Finally, The Sunday Times reports today that TSB owner, spanish bank Sabadell - who completed their purchase last week, now have their eyes on the Clydesdale Bank. Too early to know what this means for branch signage.

National Australia Bank have clearly been preparing Clydesdale for sale for the last year or so, they've just completed a branch rationalisation programme and they've been running eye-catching cashback offers to try and bolster customer numbers.

I took a Yorkshire (trading name of Clydesdale) account to grab the £150 cashback - I had no intention of keeping the account but my God, if I did, I was put off by how archaic basically every system they have is. TSB are still running on the Lloyds system I believe, which I can't imagine is an economically sustainable option either, so harmonising their systems will have to be a priority.

If Santander managed it with Bradford & Bingley, Abbey and Alliance Leicester it must be doable (although perhaps those 3 benefited from having relatively modern infrastructure?).

WillPS wrote:National Australia Bank have clearly been preparing Clydesdale for sale for the last year or so, they've just completed a branch rationalisation programme and they've been running eye-catching cashback offers to try and bolster customer numbers.

I took a Yorkshire (trading name of Clydesdale) account to grab the £150 cashback - I had no intention of keeping the account but my God, if I did, I was put off by how archaic basically every system they have is. TSB are still running on the Lloyds system I believe, which I can't imagine is an economically sustainable option either, so harmonising their systems will have to be a priority.

If Santander managed it with Bradford & Bingley, Abbey and Alliance Leicester it must be doable (although perhaps those 3 benefited from having relatively modern infrastructure?).

I would defend them by mentioning that their ATMs are all nice and modern, but recently I've spotted both Santander and Nationwide having touchscreen ATMs, and HSBC and Barclays with rather snazzy looking Diebold ATMs.

thetrainline is now trainline

Also, my local BHS appears to be getting a food store - nice mix of branding here.

bilky asko wrote:

WillPS wrote:National Australia Bank have clearly been preparing Clydesdale for sale for the last year or so, they've just completed a branch rationalisation programme and they've been running eye-catching cashback offers to try and bolster customer numbers.

I took a Yorkshire (trading name of Clydesdale) account to grab the £150 cashback - I had no intention of keeping the account but my God, if I did, I was put off by how archaic basically every system they have is. TSB are still running on the Lloyds system I believe, which I can't imagine is an economically sustainable option either, so harmonising their systems will have to be a priority.

If Santander managed it with Bradford & Bingley, Abbey and Alliance Leicester it must be doable (although perhaps those 3 benefited from having relatively modern infrastructure?).

I would defend them by mentioning that their ATMs are all nice and modern, but recently I've spotted both Santander and Nationwide having touchscreen ATMs, and HSBC and Barclays with rather snazzy looking Diebold ATMs.

I moved to First Direct recently and so discovered the fun of using a Diebold paying in machine with a touchscreen at a local HSBC branch recently. I'm not sure if they're from the same range as the ATM model as you refer to but they're pretty naff despite the touchscreen, and the sliding door that allows you to insert your cash has a nasty habit of nearly chopping your hand off before you've even finished putting the cash in!

woah wrote:

bilky asko wrote:

WillPS wrote:National Australia Bank have clearly been preparing Clydesdale for sale for the last year or so, they've just completed a branch rationalisation programme and they've been running eye-catching cashback offers to try and bolster customer numbers.

I took a Yorkshire (trading name of Clydesdale) account to grab the £150 cashback - I had no intention of keeping the account but my God, if I did, I was put off by how archaic basically every system they have is. TSB are still running on the Lloyds system I believe, which I can't imagine is an economically sustainable option either, so harmonising their systems will have to be a priority.

If Santander managed it with Bradford & Bingley, Abbey and Alliance Leicester it must be doable (although perhaps those 3 benefited from having relatively modern infrastructure?).

I would defend them by mentioning that their ATMs are all nice and modern, but recently I've spotted both Santander and Nationwide having touchscreen ATMs, and HSBC and Barclays with rather snazzy looking Diebold ATMs.

I moved to First Direct recently and so discovered the fun of using a Diebold paying in machine with a touchscreen at a local HSBC branch recently. I'm not sure if they're from the same range as the ATM model as you refer to but they're pretty naff despite the touchscreen, and the sliding door that allows you to insert your cash has a nasty habit of nearly chopping your hand off before you've even finished putting the cash in!

I concur with the paying-in machine being nearly lethal, having used it myself.

The ATMs might not be from the same range, as they're not touchscreen (I don't think, anyway). The touchscreen ones I was referring to are NCR.

thegeek wrote:thetrainline is now trainline

Although still using the definite article in its URL - at least for now.

scottishtv wrote:

Martin Phillp wrote:HSBC are planning to rebrand their high street banks to ring-fence it from the rest of the business.
A return to Midland Bank perhaps?

I see the decision has been made to call the retail operation HSBC UK from 2018 instead of doing anything radical.

In other bank-related news, most RBS branches I've seen recently are now back as "Royal Bank of Scotland" in full, complete with new signage. Not sure how long this replacement has been underway, but it seems the sign-making industry is one that can rely on money from banks.

EDIT: Looking back, seems it was announced this time last year, with the Corstorphine trial branch spotted by Ant much earlier in 2013.

Not sure it's been covered, but Williams and Glyn also seems to have a logo now too.

Finally, The Sunday Times reports today that TSB owner, spanish bank Sabadell - who completed their purchase last week, now have their eyes on the Clydesdale Bank. Too early to know what this means for branch signage.

I wish RBS would update their website with the new logo. The Digital Banking site has it but not the main site for some reason.

Harveys Furniture Store rebrands