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

Group PLC () has said it will officially rebrand itself as Natwest Group PLC from July 22, retaining the RBS model at its Scottish branches but running as NatWest in its other marketplaces.

The banking big, which also owns the Queen’s bank Coutts and is component-owned by the United kingdom taxpayer, said it will make a subsequent announcement when the title alter can take effect, even though its ticker on the LSE will also alter.

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RBS said the title alter programs sort component of a tactic to align its team title “with the model below which the the greater part of our company is delivered”, as all around eighty{744e41c82c0a3fcc278dda80181a967fddc35ccb056a7a316bb3300c6fc50654} of the company’s customer base originates from its Natwest division.

Having said that, the title alter may possibly also be a shift by the bank to eventually attract a line below the lingering toxicity of its RBS title, which has continued to pervade due to the fact the 2008 fiscal disaster amid a litany of scandals over payment security coverage (PPI), rate repairing and the conduct of its Worldwide Restructuring Group (GRG) company unit.

A report revealed by the Financial Carry out Authority (FCA) very last yr found that GRG had mistreated modest and medium sized businesses (SMEs) which have been transferred to its regulate following the crash, with an independent critique also uncovering proof of programs to drain businesses of funds in get to purchase property and fairness and boost bonuses for sure staff members.

Rebrands: the fantastic, the terrible and the hideous

RBS’s imminent rebrand also is the newest chapter in the chequered background of major corporate rebrands.

Probably a single of the much more famed examples of a rebrand gone wrong was the 2001 title alter of Royal Mail Group PLC () to ‘Consignia’, component of a tactic by then main govt John Roberts to grow the scope of the company and attempt to drive into intercontinental marketplaces.

The £2mln rebrand became an instant laughing stock and lasted all around sixteen months before it was canned, with Roberts himself currently being consigned to the record of previous CEOs of the company shortly following.

Even though Royal Mail’s short-lived rebrand was component of an energy to seem to the upcoming of the company, the rebrand of Arthur Anderson’s consulting arm to in 2001 was, a lot like RBS, a bid to cut the firm off from its harmful past.

At the time a single of the most widely revered accountancy firms, Arthur Anderson’s status was remaining in tatters subsequent its part in the bankruptcy of US vitality big Enron, which was found to have employed questionable accounting procedures to hide debt off its stability sheet which had been signed off by Anderson’s accountants.

Having said that, some corporate rebrands have much more mundane objectives in mind, this sort of as the 2015 rebrand of search motor big Google to ().

The tech company formed Alphabet as a mother or father to the core search motor company, which continues to be its biggest asset, even though also allowing it to scale the administration of its other company arms, many of which include things like study & enhancement firms developing technologies relevant to self-driving automobiles and other so-called ‘moon-shot’ assignments.

Shares in RBS have been .four{744e41c82c0a3fcc278dda80181a967fddc35ccb056a7a316bb3300c6fc50654} decrease at 121p in mid-afternoon buying and selling on Thursday.