the bank proposed by rbs group . for the former williams & glyn s bank ltd see williams & glyn s bank historic . williams & glyn industry financial services headquarters united kingdom number of locations 307 branches area served great britain key people jim brown chief executive designate parent the royal bank of scotland group website williamsandglyn.rbs.com williams & glyn is the name used to refer to the parts of the businesses of the royal bank of scotland plc and national westminster bank plc that they are required to divest by the end of 2017 . 1 williams & glyn consists of 307 royal bank of scotland branches in england and wales and natwest branches in scotland . 2 rbs was required by the european union eu to divest a portion of its business after hm government took an 84 % stake in the group during the 2008 united kingdom bank rescue package which the eu classed as state aid . a consortium including corsair capital centerbridge capital and the church of england invested 600 million into the business in september 2013 3 in exchange for equity once the bank was floated in an initial public offering ipo . rbs is required by the eu s ruling to sell its full holding in the business by the end of 2017 . 4 the williams & glyn unit has approximately 250 000 small business customers 1 200 medium business customers and 1.8 million personal banking customers . 5 on 5 august 2016 rbs group announced it had abandoned plans to spin off williams & glyn as a stand alone business stating that the new bank could not survive on its own . the group intends to sell the unit to another bank as an asset transfer . 6 contents 1 history 1.1 williams and glyn s bank ltd 1.2 project rainbow 1.2.1 agreement with santander group 1.2.2 agreement with corsair consortium 1.3 preparation for launch 1.4 cancellation 2 corporate affairs 2.1 branding 2.2 leadership 3 services 4 references 5 external links history edit williams and glyn s bank ltd edit the historic williams & glyn s bank limited was established in london in 1970 when the royal bank of scotland merged its two subsidiaries in england and wales williams deacon s bank ltd. and glyn mills & co. 7 in 1985 the historic williams & glyn s bank was fully absorbed into the royal bank of scotland . 8 project rainbow edit in 2000 the royal bank of scotland group acquired national westminster bank in a hostile takeover . 9 in 2009 it was announced that all 311 royal bank branches in england and wales together with the seven scottish branches of natwest were to be divested by the troubled group under the dormant williams & glyn s brand to comply with european union state aid requirements . 10 11 the process was expected to take up to four years to complete . 12 13 14 15 agreement with santander group edit in march 2010 it was reported that the group had issued a sales memorandum for the business which would include 318 branches and around 20 billion in loans provided to small businesses and households . following the deadline for initial bids on 7 april santander group virgin money national australia bank bbva and the private equity firm jc flowers were all confirmed to have submitted bids for consideration . 16 it was announced on 3 august that the spanish santander group would pay around 1.65 billion for the branches expected to be rebranded as part of santander uk in a deal set to be completed by december 2013 . 17 santander withdrew from the sale on 12 october 2012 . 18 agreement with corsair consortium edit in september 2013 the group confirmed it had reached an agreement to sell 314 branches to the corsair consortium made up of private equity firms and a number of institutional investors . the branches incorporating 250 000 small business customers 1 200 medium business customers and 1.8 million personal banking customers are due to separated from the group in 2016 as a standalone business under the williams & glyn s name . 5 by may 2015 the total number of branches included in the new business had been reduced to 307 . 2 preparation for launch edit in october 2015 the rbs group submitted an application for a banking licence for the new bank . 19 the group also published its transition plan for the launch of williams & glyn . according to the plan a website for the new bank will be launched and branch signage will be changed to the williams & glyn identity which will initially operate as a trading name used by royal bank of scotland plc in england and in wales and national westminster bank plc in scotland . in the lead up to the formal launch of the new bank expected in early 2017 customers will be able to access williams & glyn branded internet mobile and telephone banking services and will receive new branch sorting codes and new debit cards . 20 to facilitate the transition separate internet and telephone banking systems have been created for rbs customers in england and wales . 21 planning applications for the erection of new branch signage bearing the williams & glyn brand identity were submitted to local authorities across the north of england in early 2016 . 22 designs for the uniforms to be worn by williams & glyn staff were revealed at an event held at ss great britain in bristol . 23 a standalone atm network for the new williams and glyn bank was created in june 2016 . 24 on 16 december 2015 rbs confirmed it had received a number of informal offers for the bank and would seek to complete a sale by the end of 2017 . 25 hm treasury subsequently announced it had asked the competition and markets authority to suspend a review into how competitive the bank would be in the uk banking sector . 26 cancellation edit on 5 august 2016 rbs published details of the group s half yearly financial results revealing a 2.05 billion loss for the first half of 2016 . rbs group blamed historically low interest rates and the fallout from the uk s united kingdom european union membership referendum 2016 with uncertainties caused by the pro brexit result . these result indicated according to rbs that williams & glyn would not prosper as an independent bank . instead reuters reported that santander uk was interested in buying the unit outright . 27 corporate affairs edit branding edit initially planned to be called williams & glyn s bank it was announced in december 2013 that the bank name would be shortened to williams & glyn owing to the difficulty of using an apostrophe in branding and website addresses . the original williams and glyn s bank was formed by merging williams deacon s bank with glyn mills & co. 28 a logo for williams and glyn was revealed by rbs group in april 2014 . the logo features the words williams and glyn joined by a large ampersand . 29 the historic williams and glyn s bank did not have a distinct logo instead it used the daisy wheel logo of its parent company the royal bank of scotland . 30 leadership edit the leadership team of the part of the royal bank of scotland plc that was to have become williams & glyn was composed of director philip nevill green director mervyn davies director lance west 31 chief executive officer jim brown 32 chief operating officer chris davis chief marketing officer jason king 33 services edit the bank will offer a full range of personal and business banking and financial services including current accounts mortgages credit products insurance and savings products . it will be authorised by the prudential regulation authority and regulated by both the financial conduct authority and the prudential regulation authority . it will be a member of the financial ombudsman service and the financial services compensation scheme . references edit titcomb james ; clancy rebecca 21 june 2014 . rbs tells vince cable we can t speed up williams & glyn sale . the telegraph . retrieved 24 december 2014 . a b dunkley emma 28 may 2015 . rbs may need to beef up williams & glyn business . financial times . retrieved 2 november 2015 . moore james 28 september 2013 . church takes 10 % stake in rbs division to create an ethical bank . the independent . retrieved 12 april 2015 . titcomb james 7 february 2015 . rbs to spend 1.5 bn carving off challenger bank williams & glyn . the telegraph . retrieved 12 april 2015 . a b rbs sells 314 bank branches to corsair consortium . bbc news . 27 september 2013 . retrieved 29 september 2013 . rbs cancels williams & glyn project and loses another 2bn . the telegraph . 5 august 2016 . retrieved 5 august 2016 . the williams & glyn s bank act 1970 cap . 14 see hc deb . 23 july 1970 vol . 804 cc .758 60 for royal assent williams & glyn s bank ltd london 1970 85 the royal bank of scotland group heritage archives retrieved 23 november 2009 archived may 20 2012 at the wayback machine . natwest takeover battle bbc news 11 february 2000 09 53 gmt announcement on the aps and state aid discussions the royal bank of scotland group company announcements 3 november 2009 scottish branch sale national westminster bank retrieved 23 november 2009 . in 1975 natwest had been one of the first london banks to open a representative office in scotland hill andrew welcome back williams & glyn s the sme s friend the financial times 13 october 2009 dey iain rbs to relaunch historic williams & glyn s brand after 24 year absence the sunday times 13 september 2009 hosking patrick williams & glyn s bank could make comeback the times 15 september 2009 mason rowena and blackden richard new banks on the high street williams and glyn s the daily telegraph 1 november 2009 harry wilson 8 april 2010 . rbs offers loans to buy payment processing arm . daily telegraph . rbs sells 318 branches to santander bbc news 4 august 2010 11 40 bst rbs sale of 316 branches to santander collapses . bbc news . 12 october 2012 . retrieved 20 september 2013 . treanor jill 1 october 2015 . rbs applies for banking licence for williams & glyn spin off . the guardian . retrieved 2 november 2015 . your journey to williams & glyn pdf . the royal bank of scotland . retrieved 2 november 2015 . http rbs.co.uk englandandwales http www.wyre.gov.uk planningapplication 43478 http clients.benandmolly.co.uk wg bristol https ibsintelligence.com ibs journal ibs news rbs makes wg cash machine switch dunkley emma ; arnold martin 16 december 2015 . rbs plans to sell williams & glyn next year . financial times . retrieved 30 december 2015 . royal bank of scotland s divestment of williams & glyn . gov.uk . 16 december 2015 . retrieved 30 december 2015 . brexit fallout looms large over rbs as losses costs mount . reuters uk . 5 august 2016 . retrieved 5 august 2016 . slater steve 19 december 2013 . rbs s williams & glyn shorter name as split takes shape . reuters . retrieved 1 march 2014 . parsons russell 1 april 2014 . rbs unveils williams & glyn logo . marketing week . retrieved 12 april 2015 . church of england teams up with the city to buy 314 rbs branches and create new ethical high st bank called williams & glyn s . this is money . 27 september 2013 . retrieved 12 april 2015 . rbsg strikes pre ipo deal for williams & glyn s . london stock