Bradford & Bingley to rebrand branches

Bradford & Bingley is to rebrand all of its 500 high street outlets ‘The MarketPlace at Bradford & Bingley’ and roll out independent mortgage-broking services.

The rebranding programme will take place this summer. The company has not commented on advertising strategy, but new purple and yellow logos will be used at branches.

Customers will be able to choose from 30 mortgage providers, following pilot schemes in which Bradford & Bingley acted as a broker.

Bradford & Bingley believes it is more profitable to make commission on other companies’ mortgages than to make margins on its own in an increasingly competitive market.

Last year, group chief executive Christopher Rodrigues said the company was becoming “an innovative, growing distributor of a wide range of financial services”.

In December last year, Bradford & Bingley shed its mutual status to become a plc in a move overwhelmingly supported by members.

The company shed 68 branches last month, leaving it with about 500 in the UK.

The closures saved Bradford & Bingley &£10m and led to the loss of 300 jobs. Last year, the company posted pre-tax profits of &£231m – an increase of 25 per cent.