Yorkshire Bank is announcing a significant new expansion into Birmingham and the West Midlands as it opens a next generation B store in Birmingham city centre, showcasing the Bank’s digital innovations and committing £100m a year in lending to SMEs in the region.
Yorkshire Bank – which is owned by CYBG PLC, alongside Clydesdale Bank – launched its award winning digital banking service, B, in 2016. B is built around a smart current account and linked deposit account app designed to help customers manage their money.
As well as being a fully operational branch, the eye-catching B store on Birmingham’s New Street will be a digital showcase for B.
The store’s design is inspired by Yorkshire Bank’s successful innovation lab, Studio B, which the Bank opened to the public in April this year. Innovations designed and tested in Studio B will be regularly showcased for customers in the new B store, offering an insight into the sorts of technologies and services that could be available to bank customers in the future. This includes new voice activation technology being developed by the Bank using Amazon’s Echo device.
Within the B store, Yorkshire Bank will also be opening an enhanced business banking centre for its Yorkshire Bank business customers. This will house the expert business team, as well as facilities for customer use, including meeting rooms, conference facilities and event space.
Speaking ahead of the opening, David Duffy, CEO at CYBG, said:
“Our core strategy is to support our customers’ ambitions and sustainably grow the business both in the North of England and Scotland, as well as selectively on a national basis. The launch of our next generation B store in Birmingham is a hugely exciting milestone on this journey.
“B continues to go from strength to strength - we now have over 100,000 B customers and our new store provides an exciting and inspiring new location to let customers experience the digital innovations we are delivering right across our business.
“It also enables us to increase our SME banking presence in one of the UK’s most vibrant regional economies.”
Speaking about selecting Birmingham as the new choice for CYBG's expansion, David said:
“Expanding into Birmingham is a natural extension of our existing business – it’s a market that is growing significantly.
“The number of businesses setting up in the city is twice the national average, its home to a wealth of skills across both manufacturing and services sector, and the tech and creative industries are emerging as a hub for top new talent. Not to mention the fact that Birmingham has been named the most investable city in the UK for the past two years.”
Yorkshire Bank’s new Business Banking Centre will be the home for the Bank’s Commercial and Corporate & Structured Finance teams.
The centre will be led by Paul Reeves who has been appointed as Head of Customer Banking in Birmingham – a new role created as part of the Bank’s new push into the City. Paul Reeves will work alongside Steve Pamely, heading up Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks Corporate & Structured Finance, and Gareth Jones, running the Bank’s Commercial banking team.
