Northern Rock: Difference between revisions
| Line 84: | Line 84: | ||
* [http://www.northernrock.co.uk Northern Rock] |
* [http://www.northernrock.co.uk Northern Rock] |
||
* [http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk Northern Rock Foundation] |
* [http://www.nr-foundation.org.uk Northern Rock Foundation] |
||
* [http://www.kitchaloo.com/question.php |
* [http://www.kitchaloo.com/question/2.php Interesting investor question / answer about the effects of basel II] |
||
{{UK Banks}} |
{{UK Banks}} |
||
Revision as of 09:27, 27 August 2007
| File:Northern Rock Logo.png | |
| Company type | Public (LSE: NRK) |
|---|---|
| Industry | bank |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Headquarters | Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK |
Key people | Matt Ridley, Chairman Adam Applegarth, CEO |
| Revenue | £4,972.3 million (2006) |
| £626.7 million (2006) | |
| £443.0 million (2006) | |
| Website | www.northernrock.co.uk |
Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) is a British bank based at Regent Centre near Newcastle Upon Tyne in northern England. Formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, the bank was formed in 1997 when the society floated on the London Stock Exchange, distributing shares to its members who held savings accounts and mortgages with them. Northern Rock joined the stock exchange as a minor bank and was expected to be taken over by one of its larger rivals. However the bank has been very successful in the mortgage market and in 2000 gained promotion to the FTSE 100 Index.
History
Northern Rock Building Society was formed in 1965 as a result of the merger of Northern Counties Permanent Building Society (established in 1850) and Rock Building Society (established in 1865). Along with many other UK building societies, Northern Rock chose to float on the stock exchange in order to better expand their business.
Location
The bank has contact centre operations at both Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland and at their Head Office in Gosforth. The company is midway through a large redevelopment of the Gosforth offices, which saw the demolition of the original 1960s tower block during Spring 2006. By 2008 a new tower block will be completed, that will act as the facade to the company headquarters.
The Gosforth site currently consists of the Kielder and Prudhoe buildings, completed in the early 1990s behind which lies the distinctive glass fronted Alnwick building. The main Atrium reception is adjacent to this which opens out onto the recently completed Baker Street, a large covered mall that houses a restaurant, shop and on-site branch. A number of other buildings, all named after North-Eastern castles are joined to Baker Street.
A sub division in Guernsey was established in February 1996[1], handling offshore savings and investment accounts. Northern Rock opened a branch in Ireland on 16 November 1999[2] and a branch in Denmark followed on 7 February 2007.[3] The first branch in Northern Ireland was opened on 4 April 2007.
Business
Today, Northern Rock is one of the top five mortgage lenders in the United Kingdom in terms of gross lending.
Despite being a specialised mortgage lender, though, the bank also deals with savings accounts, loans and insurance. The company offers both secured and unsecured loans, the latter administered and underwritten by the subsidiary Ventura, based in Leeds. Home and contents insurance is dealt with by AXA whilst Legal & General, whose mortgage book Northern Rock took over, arrange insurance and investments. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) can be arranged with London-based Cardif Pinnacle.
The bank's recent success can be partly attributed to its success in retaining mortgage customers after their initial deals have expired via its Mortgage Review Service. The company is currently developing both its retention of customers introduced by brokers and those who are moving to new properties.
The success of the company's sales now requires growth in the Finance function, which deals with acquisition of funds and has recently appointed two new Operational Directors to oversee development in that area.
The bank also recently announced a move into higher-risk lending via a deal with Lehman Brothers. Although the mortgages will be sold by Northern Rock, the risk will be underwritten by Lehman Brothers, which will maintain the company's ethos of maintaining low-risk lending.
The company has a number of call centres in order to interface with customers, but all of these are based in Gosforth and Sunderland, and closely aligned with administration staff to ensure efficiency. Recent large investments in IT infrastructure should see the delivery of many online services in 2007, enabling customers to do more of their banking from home.
Board of Directors
The current Chief Executive of Northern Rock is Adam Applegarth, who joined the company in the early 1980s as a graduate trainee. Deputy Chief Executive David Baker, who joined on a similar scheme, also takes pride in having gotten to the know the company by working as a postboy. The company is focused on developing its own staff and so, most appointments are made internally.
As of March 2007, the Board of Directors comprises:
- Chairman Dr Matthew W. Ridley
- Chief Executive Adam J. Applegarth
- Deputy Chief Executive David F. Baker
- Group Finance Director David A. Jones
- Executive Directors Keith M. Currie, Andrew M. Kuipers,
- Non-Executive Directors N. Adam H. Fenwick, Sir Ian Gibson, Nichola Pease, Michael J. Queen, Rosemary A. Radcliffe, Sir Derek Wanless
Sponsorship
The company is the official club sponsor of local football club Newcastle United and local rugby union club, Newcastle Falcons, as well as Durham, Middlesex County Cricket sides, professional golfer Paul Eales, Cycling festival Northern Rock Cyclone northernrockcyclone.co.uk.
The company's pride in its sponsored teams is demonstrated by a number of paintings depicting them around the Gosforth offices.
Charity
The company donates substantial amounts annually its own charity, the Northern Rock Foundation. The foundation was formed when the company was floated, with an initial donation of 15% of the share capital and a covenant to donate 5% of the company's annual profit thereafter. In 2006, Northern Rock was the second largest charitable giver in the FTSE 100 after ITV.
Corporate Identity
Northern Rock introduced a new corporate identity in 2000 consisting of a magenta square containing the company name. This logo becomes a magenta square without the name if the logo is reduced to smaller than 14mm x 14mm.
The mascot, featured in most advertisements, is a frog known as Romeo. Some adverts feature his partner, Juliet and before mortgage regulation in 2002 altered the names of the products, an elderly pair of frogs named Erm and Herm were being developed. These were based on the acronyms for Equity Release Mortgages, which are now known as Lifetime mortgages.
The company advertises in the press but does not use the television or radio.
References
External link
- Northern Rock
- Northern Rock Foundation
- Interesting investor question / answer about the effects of basel II
