Advance Elections
The following elections will be run for Advance representatives and Chairperson from Friday 31st October 2008 to Friday 21st November 2008.
Chairperson
A National Officer of the union and responsible for the NEC, nominations for the chairperson role are only eligible from members of the union who have served a full term on either the National Executive Committee or Area Committee in the last 5 years.
Area Committee Representatives
Area reps form a vital part of the union representing the views of members in their particular business area, nominations for area reps are eligible from all members who have been in membership for at least 3 months. Full training will be given for this these roles.
If you require further information or nomination forms for either of the above please contact Advance office on 01442 891122
Bradford & Bingley
You should by now be well aware of the details of Abbey’s acquisition of Bradford & Bingley’s Direct Channels business, but just to reiterate the deal involves the:
- Transfer of £20B retail deposits
- 2.7M new customers
- 197 branches and 141 agencies (distribution points in third party premises).
I have been briefed on events this week and whilst information is still limited at this stage I believe this is good news. I also welcome the statements made to Advance and in public that the Bradford & Bingley transfer is about capitalising on a great opportunity for expansion and that where there are branch overlaps they would look to relocate rather than close.
Overall I believe the addition of Bradford & Bingley will be of great benefit and I hope to be able to provide more information in the next edition of our magazine which you will receive in late October - early November.
I am in regular dialogue with senior management and will continue to keep you informed of any further developments on our website Rest assured that we are your voice at work and the interests of all our members remains our top priority.
If you have any queries, please contact Advance’s office on 01442 891122.
Regards,
Linda Rolph
General Secretary
For The Urgent Attention
of Advance Members
I am writing following the announcement this morning, 29th September 2008, by HM Treasury to take the Bradford and Bingley into public ownership, with the retail deposits, branch network and related employees transferring to Abbey National plc with immediate effect.
I have been fully briefed by senior management in Abbey this morning on the details relating to the acquisition which was concluded in a very short space of time. Accordingly, there is not a great amount of information that I can share with you at the moment. It is however, a significant opportunity for Santander/Abbey to increase its branch capacity throughout the UK, raise its profile and advance towards its goal as the best commercial bank in the UK
I wanted to advise you that Advance will continue to be your voice at work and that our main objective throughout the coming months will be your job security.
It is to early to know the full impact of this acquisition however, rest assured we will be in constant dialogue with senior management regarding the plans going forward and we will keep you updated.
Linda Rolph
General Secretary
Advance
We will send a written communication to every member in the next couple of weeks.
Santander & Alliance and Leicester
Following the announcement by Santander of its intention to purchase the Alliance and Leicester, Advance has met with Senior Abbey management to discuss the proposals. Consultation is at an early stage, but Advance have requested that further discussions take place as the proposals move forward and the impacts on employees both in Abbey and Alliance and Leicester become known.
Our primary concern is the welfare of our members and protecting their long term job security. We will keep our members up to date with consultations as they progress.
Linda Rolph
General Secretary
Advance