Virgin Money and CYBG complete deal to create UK’s sixth biggest bank

A Virgin Money lounge
Image from Virgin Money
Virgin Galactic
Richard Branson's signature
Published on 14 October 2018

Thrilled that Virgin Money and CYBG have completed their deal today – joining forces to create the UK’s sixth biggest bank.

We started Virgin Money 23 years ago to disrupt the UK’s banking sector. We introduced new ways of selling services and created innovative products, reaching more than 3.4 million customers.

Today marks the start of a new chapter. We have teamed up with CYBG and together we will have the size, scale and opportunity to transform UK banking. As the CYBG retail brand transitions to the Virgin Money brand over the next three years we will be able to offer a much wider range of products, bringing huge benefits for customers and employees alike.

I’m also delighted to welcome the current Chief Executive of CYBG, David Duffy, who will now take on the role at Virgin Money, and I’m excited to hear his ideas on what comes next. 

A big thank you to Jayne-Anne Gadhia and her dedicated team, who have built one of the most admired financial services companies in the UK. Jayne-Anne was one of the founders of Virgin Money (back when it was called Virgin Direct) in 1995, and left with the Virgin One account when it was sold to RBS, before returning to lead Virgin Money in 2007. In the past 11 years she has shown inspiring leadership – helping the business to navigate the takeover of Northern Rock in 2011, the IPO, and has been a strong advocate for gender diversity in business, leading a government review into women in finance. I’m delighted that Jayne-Anne has agreed to support the new team as a senior advisor. 

Jayne Anne Gadhia
Image from Virgin Money

Virgin Money has always put customers and the community at the heart of everything it does and we’re working closely with the CYBG team to make sure these values continue to sit at the core of the brand. Virgin Money has always had the ambition to “make everyone better off” – and I’m convinced the completion of this deal puts Virgin Money in a strong position to keep challenging the status quo and puts more choice in the hands of customers.