Following the acquisition by Banco Santander Central Hispano the re-branding has no definite time scale with the final decision not to be made until de-polarisation.
Christine McAllister, media relations manager at Abbey, said: “It is our ambition to re-brand all of our products. The final decision regarding Scottish Provident and Scottish Mutual will depend on what depolarisation will allow us to do.
“Our sales force are currently out there talking to IFA’s and receiving feedback from them on how they feel about the re-branding.”
Bill Warren, director of The Complete Network, said: “It seems that this decision makes a lot of sense. The market can be very confusing with a plethora of firms out there and providing clarity into who actually owns who can be a good thing.
“All in all it is a positive step, maybe not for the Scottish contingent but Abbey is a strong brand.”
However Rob Clifford, managing director of Mortgageforce, said the announcement directly contradicted statements made earlier this month by Stephen Atkins, head of The Mortgage Alliance (Abbey’s mortgage club), in which he had reassured intermediaries there would be no significant changes to the business.
“I said then that it was highly unlikely that anyone in Abbey’s subsidiary companies would actually know what the parent company had in mind for the future direction of the group,” said Clifford.
He added: “It is also strange that Abbey are scrapping the Scottish Provident and Scottish Mutual brands after having spent the last two years and millions of pounds integrating their sales process with that of Abbey’s.”
