Bank of Scotland has a long and distinguished history. Established by an Act of the Scottish Parliament in 1695, it is the UK’s oldest clearing bank with its headquarters firmly planted in Edinburgh. In the region 22,000 staff are employed by the Bank of Scotland Group, with regional offices and departments supporting the activities of some 325 branch outlets, meeting the banking needs of all areas of the community.
Bank of Scotland also intends to have a long and distinguished future. It is one of Europe’s fastest growing banks. Its Board of Directors recognises that: banking is a global industry new technology is opening up new business opportunities worldwide domestic markets are increasingly exposed to international competition huge economies of scale are available to the industry banks that fail to grow put their future at risk profitable growth is the key to remaining independent.
For any business to grow, it must do one or more of the following:
- sell a higher value of existing products to existing customers
- develop new products and sell them to existing customers
- find new customers for all of its products, both established and new.
In the early 1990s, the Bank of Scotland was looking to grow by strengthening its market position in England. In Scotland, it had an enviable reputation as a first class provider of banking services through the local branch network. In England, its presence was less obvious and its existence less well-known. The challenge for the bank was to find a way of expanding its business in England without incurring the massive overhead costs associated with creating a network of local branches.
