Strategic HR Profile
When three
become one
Virgin Money’s group HRD had the tricky task of fusing three brands
together to create a new type of bank. PETER CRUSH hears how she has
changed reward, performance management, engagement and more
It’s the day after Britain was battered by Storm
Brendan, and group human resources director
at Virgin Money UK Kate Guthrie doesn’t half
know it. The ‘new’ bank – which formed in 2018
when the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank brands
agreed to buy Virgin Money for £1.7 billion – sees
her regularly jetting between Glasgow and London,
and with gusts up to 50 miles per hour at City
Airport her arrival was fairly eventful.
“People spontaneously applauded
when we touched down. It’s
something you don’t quite expect
from seasoned executive flyers,”
she says.
But the odd bumpy landing and
turbulence could both be events
Guthrie faces more of in the next 12
months. With all the necessary
regulatory and administrative loose
ends of the acquisition now complete
all 9,500 staff of the newly-created entity officially
became Virgin Money employees in October
2019, converting its network of Clydesdale and
Yorkshire Bank branches into Virgin Money banks
starts in earnest, including the inevitable
‘rationalisation’ (i.e. closures) this entails.
And it’s not just fusing together two very
different companies that Guthrie has on her plate
(Clydesdale and Yorkshire hark back to 1838 and
1859 respectively, while the irreverent Virgin
Money formed in 1995). Her work comprises a
rebrand and new definition of values at a time of
great uncertainty for staff.
“Some 73 stores are already under Virgin Money,
while three Virgin Money flagship branches
opened in December in London, Manchester and
Birmingham. This leaves 62 Clydesdale Bank sites
and 84 Yorkshire Bank branches to follow in the
next 18 months,” says Guthrie, who joined
Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank Group (CYBG) in 2016
having previously been HRD, culture, capability
and engagement at Lloyds Banking Group.
“But the hard work really starts now. We need to
ensure our people give the right ‘Virgin’ customer
experience, based on having a new sense of pride
for who they work for.”
CYBG’s decision to ditch two well-established,
solid, regional brands and take the name of the
acquired company was simple.
“It’s the power of the Virgin
brand,” says Guthrie. “It speaks
of innovation and being nontraditional
– all the things we
want the new entity to be.”
Its new Virgin Money digital
current account and mobile app sees
innovations such as live-spend data,
notifications and alerts, moneysaving
services and products, and
We have very
lofty ambitions
to be a serious,
different but
quirky bank
‘one-swipe’ money transfer features. She says:
“Banks are changing so we needed to change; we
need to be what I call more ‘usefully provocative’.
The Virgin brand gives us this ability.”
Before the two companies officially became
Virgin Money there was a small window when
the three constituent banks were still trading
independently, so during this crucial holding
period no time was wasted establishing what
the new combined entity’s purpose, culture and
values should be. And Guthrie says it wasn’t all
about Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks subsuming
into Virgin.
“On day one of the new group we created our
‘1,000 Voices’ campaign where we formed focus
groups, found change champions and invited
views to be submitted to really listen to what
mattered to our people,” she explains. “Not only
was it so popular it turned into 2,500 voices,
Photography: David Woolfall
28 HR February 2020 hrmagazine.co.uk
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