Northern Rock has named a new chief executive to lead the government funded bank forwards.
Gary Hoffman, previously the vice chairman at Barclays has taken on the role, replacing Andy Kuipers who had been at the bank for the last 20 years. Mr Hoffman will officially take over at the end of August and is very excited to be given the task of heading up Northern Rock.
When Mr Kuipers, the last person from the previous board remaining, leaves it will signify a new start for the Northern Rock, bringing an optimism for customers, staff and investors that the future will be better than the recent past.
In 2007 approximately 18,000 unsecured personal loans were taken out to pay for school fees, with a total value of around GBP165 million according to Sainsburys Bank.
Looking at the historical data Sainsburys Bank also found that over GBP2 billion extra was spent on school fees in 2006 compared with just 2 years previously. This is a massive additional amount to cover and explains the increasing use of unsecured personal loans and other forms of borrowing to fund childrens educations.
Looking ahead Sainsburys Bank also expect the trend to continue. With a rising cost of living, more children enjoying private education and also the fact that school fees themselves rise at levels well above the rate of inflation they are predicting more borrowing.
An approach has been made by Lloyds TSB for German bank Dresdner as the well known UK financial institution looks to maximise retail opportunities across Europe.
Lloyds TSB has ridden the credit crunch very well and as such it is in a very strong position compared with many others. This is why it is making tentative enquiries regarding the German bank, valued at around GBP6 billion. It has a keen interest in the German market generally as it is also looking at a couple of other big name German banks that are potentially for sale.
At the moment there is no immediate need for action so Lloyds TSB will seek the views of their shareholders as to their thoughts on how they wish to see their funds invested before making any further steps toward purchase.
