Conquistador rebrands vanquished British banks

Via the BBC website comes news that the all-conquering Spanish bank Santander, having mopped up a giant chunk of the British banking industry in the form of the Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley Savings, is to rebrand them all as Santander with effect from the end of 2010.  

Right: Santander's conquistadors model their new UK staff uniforms

While traditionalists will mourn the passing of these great High Street names, shareholders may feel less disappointment if any savings through brand rationalisation are passed on to them in the form of higher dividends.  They weren't real banks in most consumers' minds anyway -- just souped-up building societies where British savers could spend many happy hours engaging in their favourite pastime: queuing.

The search for Mr Bradford and Mr Bingley here

How to pronounce Leicester correctly, but with an American accent, here

The Abbey here

Why cats like Santander here

Other famous shop names that have disappeared from British High Streets here, here and here