Northern Rock’s chief steps down…
The chief executive of troubled British bank Northern Rock, Adam Applegarth, has resigned, the lender has said.The bank’s shares collapsed after it was forced to seek emergency funding from the Bank of England in September.
Concerned customers rushed to withdraw their money, and the bank has since been seeking bidders to rescue it.
Two suitors, Virgin Group and investment firm Olivant Advisers, confirmed they had made proposals to rescue the bank by a Friday deadline.
BBC NEWS | Business | Northern Rock’s chief steps down.
It’s no surprise that several suitors have submitted formal bids for the purchase of Northern Rock, but the potential involvement of Virgin is fascinating.
As a Virgin Rock customer, I was trying to imagine how it would feel to have such an important financial relationship with a brand that I know, respect and have affection for…
Every time customers’ monthly mortgage payments would go up, they’d be receiving a letter from Virgin telling them this.
Every time someone’s house is to be re-possessed, it would be under the Virgin brand – does that sit comfortably with their brand values?
I think that providing entertainment services and non-essential financial services is one thing, but to extend the relationship to something that can be some important and so much potential to go wrong could be a step too far in my opinion!