Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC to rebrand as Natwest Group PLC next Wednesday

The bank said the identify improve varieties section of a system to align alone “with the manufacturer beneath which the bulk of our company is delivered”, with all-around 80% of its consumer base coming from Natwest

Team PLC () has said it will formally rebrand alone as Natwest Team PLC from July 22, retaining the RBS manufacturer at its Scottish branches but working as NatWest in its other markets.

The banking giant, which also owns the Queen’s bank Coutts and is section-owned by the British isles taxpayer, said it will make a subsequent announcement when the identify improve usually takes result, when its ticker on the LSE will also improve.

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RBS said the identify improve programs variety section of a system to align its team identify “with the manufacturer beneath which the bulk of our company is delivered”, as all-around 80% of the company’s consumer base originates from its Natwest division.

Even so, the identify improve may also be a go by the bank to eventually draw a line beneath the lingering toxicity of its RBS identify, which has continued to pervade given that the 2008 monetary disaster amid a litany of scandals more than payment security insurance policy (PPI), level correcting and the behaviour of its Global Restructuring Team (GRG) company device.

A report revealed by the Economic Perform Authority (FCA) past calendar year uncovered that GRG had mistreated little and medium sized businesses (SMEs) which were being transferred to its command soon after the crash, with an impartial evaluation also uncovering proof of programs to drain businesses of hard cash in purchase to get belongings and fairness and improve bonuses for certain workforce.

Rebrands: the fantastic, the bad and the unappealing

RBS’s imminent rebrand also is the hottest chapter in the chequered history of key company rebrands.

Maybe 1 of the far more well known examples of a rebrand absent mistaken was the 2001 identify improve of Royal Mail Team PLC () to ‘Consignia’, section of a system by then chief government John Roberts to extend the scope of the company and endeavor to force into intercontinental markets.

The £2mln rebrand grew to become an immediate laughing inventory and lasted all-around sixteen months ahead of it was canned, with Roberts himself remaining consigned to the record of former CEOs of the firm soon soon after.

While Royal Mail’s limited-lived rebrand was section of an work to glance to the potential of the company, the rebrand of Arthur Anderson’s consulting arm to in 2001 was, substantially like RBS, a bid to minimize the company off from its toxic past.

Once 1 of the most extensively highly regarded accountancy companies, Arthur Anderson’s popularity was still left in tatters next its purpose in the bankruptcy of US strength giant Enron, which was uncovered to have employed questionable accounting techniques to cover credit card debt off its balance sheet which had been signed off by Anderson’s accountants.

Even so, some company rebrands have far more mundane aims in thoughts, these as the 2015 rebrand of research engine giant Google to ().

The tech firm shaped Alphabet as a mum or dad to the main research engine company, which stays its biggest asset, when also letting it to scale the management of its other company arms, several of which consist of analysis & progress companies making engineering linked to self-driving cars and other so-named ‘moon-shot’ jobs.

Shares in RBS were being .four% lower at 121p in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday.