Santander Corporate Banking launched

Abbey and Alliance & Leicester today start to rebrand their UK Corporate and Commercial Banking divisions to Santander Corporate Banking.

The bank's network of 20 regional corporate banking centres will be rebranded during 2009 starting with Manchester followed by Nottingham.

The change follows last month's announcement that Santander's three UK businesses, Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley Savings, will adopt the Santander global brand and name in 2010.

Steve Pateman, head of Santander Corporate Banking, said: "Santander has a clear strategy of increasing its presence in the UK corporate market and the rebrand to Santander Corporate Banking is a clear demonstration of our ambition to become the bank of choice for businesses.

"By bringing together the local knowledge of Alliance & Leicester's regional corporate banking centres, the specialist sector knowledge of Abbey's corporate banking teams and Santander's credibility as one of the strongest and best capitalised banks in the world, we can provide customers with a very compelling banking service.

"We plan to expand our regional network and are recruiting additional relationship managers, giving us the opportunity to develop close relationships with local businesses helping them through some of the challenges they may now face towards longer-term success."