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

Group PLC () has claimed it will formally rebrand alone as Natwest Group PLC from July 22, retaining the RBS brand at its Scottish branches but functioning as NatWest in its other marketplaces.

The banking big, which also owns the Queen’s lender Coutts and is component-owned by the British isles taxpayer, claimed it will make a subsequent announcement when the title adjust takes outcome, while its ticker on the LSE will also adjust.

Study: RBS extends incentivised switching plan deadline for companies

RBS claimed the title adjust plans kind component of a tactic to align its team title “with the brand under which the bulk of our company is delivered”, as all-around 80% of the company’s shopper base originates from its Natwest division.

Having said that, the title adjust may perhaps also be a transfer by the lender to eventually draw a line under the lingering toxicity of its RBS title, which has ongoing to pervade considering that the 2008 fiscal crisis amid a litany of scandals over payment protection insurance coverage (PPI), amount correcting and the behaviour of its World-wide Restructuring Group (GRG) company unit.

A report posted by the Money Carry out Authority (FCA) previous yr uncovered that GRG had mistreated small and medium sized companies (SMEs) which ended up transferred to its control immediately after the crash, with an impartial assessment also uncovering evidence of plans to drain companies of money in order to acquire assets and fairness and raise bonuses for particular workers.

Rebrands: the fantastic, the negative and the ugly

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

Potentially just one of the extra renowned examples of a rebrand gone incorrect was the 2001 title adjust of Royal Mail Group PLC () to ‘Consignia’, component of a tactic by then chief govt John Roberts to expand the scope of the company and try to thrust into global marketplaces.

The £2mln rebrand grew to become an fast laughing stock and lasted all-around sixteen months right before it was canned, with Roberts himself becoming consigned to the checklist of former CEOs of the organization shortly immediately after.

When Royal Mail’s quick-lived rebrand was component of an work to look to the foreseeable future of the company, the rebrand of Arthur Anderson’s consulting arm to in 2001 was, significantly like RBS, a bid to cut the enterprise off from its toxic previous.

After just one of the most extensively respected accountancy corporations, Arthur Anderson’s standing was remaining in tatters pursuing its part in the personal bankruptcy of US vitality big Enron, which was uncovered to have used questionable accounting procedures to hide credit card debt off its balance sheet which had been signed off by Anderson’s accountants.

Having said that, some corporate rebrands have extra mundane plans in thoughts, this kind of as the 2015 rebrand of look for motor big Google to ().

The tech organization fashioned Alphabet as a father or mother to the core look for motor company, which remains its most significant asset, while also enabling it to scale the administration of its other company arms, quite a few of which involve exploration & growth corporations making technology connected to self-driving cars and other so-named ‘moon-shot’ initiatives.

Shares in RBS ended up .four% reduced at 121p in mid-afternoon buying and selling on Thursday.