Abbey National

Banking and Finance

Abbey National plc was a UK-based bank and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand name. As the former Abbey National Building Society, it was the first building society in the UK to demutualise, doing so in July 1989. The bank expanded through a number of acquisitions in the 1990s, including James Hay, Scottish Mutual, Scottish Provident and the rail leasing company Porterbrook. Abbey National launched an online bank, Cahoot, in 2000. The bank rebranded as Abbey in 2003 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group in 2004. In January 2010, the savings business of Bradford & Bingley was combined with the bank, and Abbey National plc was renamed Santander UK plc. Prior to the takeover, Abbey National plc was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.