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Lloyds Bank plc
Formerly
  • Lloyds Bank plc (1865–1999)
  • Lloyds TSB Bank plc (1999–2013)
Public limited company
Industry Financial services
Founded 3 June 1765; 259 years ago (1765-06-03)
(Taylors and Lloyds)
Founder
Headquarters 25 Gresham Street, ,
Key people
Products Banking and Insurance
Operating income
£17.5 billion (2016)
£16.6 billion (2016)
Total assets £436 billion (2016, average interest-earning banking assets)
Number of employees
45,856
Parent Lloyds Banking Group
Subsidiaries Lloyds Bank International Limited
Lloyds Bank (Gibraltar) Limited

Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an extensive network of branches and ATMs in England and Wales (as well as an arrangement for its customers to be serviced by Bank of Scotland branches in Scotland, Halifax branches in Northern Ireland and vice versa) and offers 24-hour telephone and online banking services.

Founded in Birmingham in 1765, it expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies. In 1995, it merged with the Trustee Savings Bank and traded as Lloyds TSB Bank plc between 1999 and 2013. In January 2009, it became the principal subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group, which was formed by the acquisition of HBOS by the then-Lloyds TSB Group. It has its operational headquarters in London and other offices in Wales and Scotland. It also operates a number of the office complex, brand headquarters, and data centres in Birmingham, Yorkshire including Leeds, Sheffield, Halifax and Wolverhampton.

History

Origins

Portrait of Sampson Lloyd II (1699 - 1779)
Sampson Lloyd (1699–1779), Birmingham iron merchant and founder of Lloyds Bank in 1765

The origins of Lloyds Bank date from 1765, when button maker John Taylor and Quaker iron producer and dealer Sampson Lloyd set up a private banking business in Dale End, Birmingham. The first branch office opened in Oldbury, some six miles (10 km) west of Birmingham, in 1864.

The association with the Taylor family ended in 1852 and, in 1865, Lloyds & Co. converted into a joint-stock company known as Lloyds Banking Company Ltd. The first report of the company in 1865 stated:

LLOYDS BANKING COMPANY LIMITED – Authorized Capital £2,000,000. FOUNDED ON The Private Banks of Messrs. Lloyds & Co. and Messrs. Moilliet and Sons, with-which have subsequently been amalgamated with the Banks of Messrs. P. H. Williams, Wednesbury, and Messrs.Stevenson, Salt, & Co., Stafford and Lichfield. [They had an office at 20 Lombard St., London] Your Directors have the satisfaction to report that they have concluded an agreement with the well-known and old-established firm of Messrs. Stevenson, Salt & Company for the amalgamation with this Company of their Banking Business at Stafford, Lichfield, Rugeley, and Eccleshall, and that this agreement has had the unanimous approval of the Extraordinary General Meeting held on 31st January last. It will be again submitted to you for final confirmation after the close of the Ordinary General Meeting. TIMOTHY KENRICK, Chairman. BIRMINGHAM, 9th February 1866

Two sons of the original partners followed in their footsteps by joining the established merchant bank Barnett, Hoares & Co. which later became Barnetts, Hoares, Hanbury, and Lloyd— based in Lombard Street, London. Eventually, this became absorbed into the original Lloyds Banking Company, which became Lloyds, Barnetts, and Bosanquets Bank Ltd. in 1884. and, finally, Lloyds Bank Limited in 1889.

Symbols

The symbol adopted by Taylors and Lloyds was the beehive, representing industry and hard work (thrift). In 1822, Taylors and Lloyds sent a letter to other banks to inform them of stolen banknotes, adding that it would engrave a symbol of a beehive to all future notes. Dowler & Sons made brass buttons embellished with beehives for branch messenger uniforms in the 1900s. Uniform buttons featuring a black horse with small beehives engraved around it were manufactured in the 1930s.

The black horse regardant device dates from 1677, when Humphrey Stokes adopted it as a sign for his shop. The reason why Stokes chose this horse is unknown, though it may have been a family crest because the black horse is heraldically posed in 'rampant regardant'. Stokes was a goldsmith and "keeper of the running cashes" (an early term for banker) and the business became part of Barnett, Hoares & Co. When Lloyds took over that bank in 1884, it continued to trade "at the sign of the black horse".

The green of the Lloyds Bank was adopted in the 1920s for added distinctiveness.

From 1884 to the 1920s, the black horse and the beehive were both used in cheques, until the beehive was dropped. During this period, other symbols were used; for example, the liver bird, which was retained from the Liverpool Union Bank when it was taken over in 1900.

Since 1975, real black horses have been featured in Lloyds' television adverts, including Cancara.

Expansion

Through a series of mergers, including Cunliffe, Brooks in 1900, the Wilts. and Dorset Bank in 1914 and, by far the largest, the Capital and Counties Bank in 1918, Lloyds emerged to become one of the "Big Four" clearing banks in the United Kingdom. By 1923, Lloyds Bank had made some 50 takeovers, one of which was the last private firm to issue its own banknotes—Fox, Fowler and Company of Wellington, Somerset. Today, the Bank of England has a monopoly of banknote issue in England and Wales. In 2011, the company founded SGH Martineau LLP.

Eleven banks bought by Lloyds Bank between 1865 and 1923 had been involved in slavery to some degree. One of these, the London and Brazilian Bank, financed coffee plantations in Brazil which operated on slave labour, and mortgages on these plantations were sometimes secured using the monetary value of the enslaved people as collateral.

In 1968, an attempt to merge with Barclays and Martins Bank failed because the Monopolies and Mergers Commission deemed it to be against the public interest. Barclays finally acquired Martins the following year. In 1972, Lloyds Bank was a founding member of the Joint Credit Card Company (with National Westminster Bank, Midland Bank and the National and Commercial Banking Group) which launched the Access credit card (now MasterCard). That same year it introduced Cashpoint, the first online cash machine to use plastic cards with a magnetic stripe. In popular use, the Cashpoint trademark has become a generic term for an ATM in the United Kingdom.

In 1982 Lloyds decided to follow Provident Financial Group plc in entering the estate agency market with the acquisition of the Norfolk firm of Charles Hawkins and Son in May of that year to form Black Horse Agencies. The firm had been first established in 1869 in Downham Market by Charles Hawkins who was land agent for the Pratt estate at Ryston. The firm merged in 1875 with that of Cruso and Son forming Cruso and Hawkins, later becoming Charles Hawkins and Son in 1908.

Under the leadership of Sir Brian Pitman between 1984 and 1997, the bank became an early adopter of shareholder value creation as a governing corporate objective. The bank's business focus was narrowed and it reacted to disastrous lending to South American states by trimming its overseas businesses and seeking growth through mergers with other UK banks. During this period, Pitman tried unsuccessfully to acquire The Royal Bank of Scotland in 1984, Standard Chartered in 1986, and Midland Bank in 1992. Lloyds Bank International merged into Lloyds Bank in 1986, since there was no longer an advantage in operating separately. In 1988, Lloyds merged five of its businesses with the Abbey Life Insurance Company to create Lloyds Abbey Life.

Lloyds TSB

Lloyds tsb logo
The Lloyds TSB logotype, used 1995–2009 (group) and 1999–2013 (bank)

The bank merged first with the newly demutualised Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society (C&G), then with the TSB Group in 1995. The C&G acquisition gave Lloyds a large stake in the UK mortgage lending market. The TSB merger was structured as a reverse takeover; Lloyds Bank Plc was delisted from the London Stock Exchange and TSB Group plc was renamed Lloyds TSB Group plc on 28 December, with former Lloyds Bank shareholders owning a 70% equity interest in the share capital, effected through a scheme of arrangement. The new bank commenced trading in 1999 after the statutory process of integration was completed. On 28 June, TSB Bank plc transferred engagements to Lloyds Bank Plc which then changed its name to Lloyds TSB Bank plc; at the same time, TSB Bank Scotland plc absorbed Lloyds' three Scottish branches becoming Lloyds TSB Scotland plc. The combined business formed the largest bank in the UK by market share and the second-largest to Midland Bank (now HSBC) by market capitalisation. Lloyds' iconic black horse device was retained and modified to reflect the TSB merger.

Lloyds Abbey Life became a wholly owned subsidiary of the group in 1996, absorbing Hill Samuel in 1997, before closing to a new business in 2000. In 2007, Abbey Life was sold to Deutsche Bank for £977 million.

In 1999, the group agreed to buy the Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society for £7 billion. The society demutualised in 2000, shortly before the acquisition was completed. In 2001, Lloyds TSB made a bid to acquire Abbey National; however, the bid was blocked by the Competition Commission, who ruled that a merger would be against the public interest.

In October 2011, Lloyds TSB's credit rating was reduced by Moody's from Aa3 to A1. The action was taken in the light of a shift in government policy to move risk from taxpayers to creditors by reducing the level of support offered to financial institutions.

Lloyds TSB was the first Official Partner for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Divestment and return to Lloyds Bank

Lloyds TSB, Market Place, Wetherby (12th October 2013)
A rebranded Lloyds Bank branch in Wetherby, West Yorkshire (October 2013)

After the 2008 rescue of HBOS, Lloyds TSB Group was renamed Lloyds Banking Group. In 2009, following the liquidity crisis, HM Government took a 43.4% stake in Lloyds Banking Group. The European Commission ruled that the group must sell a portion of its business by November 2013, as it categorised the stake purchase as state aid.

On 24 April 2013, it was confirmed that a number of Lloyds TSB branches in England and Wales would be combined with the branches of Cheltenham & Gloucester and the business of Lloyds TSB Scotland to form a new bank operating under the TSB brand and divested by the group. The selected Lloyds TSB branches and those of Cheltenham & Gloucester were transferred to Lloyds TSB Scotland plc, which was renamed TSB Bank plc. The new bank began operating on 9 September 2013 as a separate division within Lloyds Banking Group. TSB was floated on the London Stock Exchange on 20 June 2014, and was acquired by Banco Sabadell one year later and subsequently delisted. The remaining business of Lloyds TSB returned to the Lloyds Bank name on 23 September 2013.

In October 2014, the bank announced that it planned to cut 9,000 jobs and close some branches in light of an increase in the number of customers using online banking services.

In July 2016, the bank announced it would cut 3,000 jobs because of the economic downturn as a result of United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.

In January 2017, the bank suffered interruptions to its online services originally blamed on "unspecified technical glitches". A hacker reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack, demanding around £75,000 from the bank in a "consultation fee". On 17 March 2017, the British Government confirmed its remaining shares in Lloyds Banking Group had been sold.

Services

Lloyds Bank, Teddington
The Teddington branch of Lloyds Bank in the west of Greater London, designed by Randall Wells in 1929.
Lloyds Bank, Southwark 01
The London Bridge branch of Lloyds Bank in London, designed by Philip Hepworth in 1928.

The bank offers a full range of banking and financial services, through a network of 1,300 branches in England and Wales. Branches in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are operated by Lloyds Bank International Limited, while Lloyds Bank (Gibraltar) Limited operates in Gibraltar; both are wholly owned subsidiaries and trade under the Lloyds Bank brand. Lloyds Bank is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. It is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, UK Payments Administration, the British Bankers' Association and subscribes to the Lending Code. The bank uses the following series of sort codes:—

Range Note
30 to 39 Former Lloyds branches
77-00 to 77-44
77-46 to 77-99
Former TSB branches
(England and Wales)

The Lloyds Bank Foundation funds local, regional and national charities working to tackle disadvantage across England and Wales. There are separate foundations covering Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.

Overseas operations

The bank's overseas expansion began in 1911 and, by 1985, it had banking and representative offices in 45 countries, from Argentina to the United States of America.

Lloyds Bank International was absorbed into the main business of Lloyds Bank in 1986. Since 2010, the name has been used to refer to the bank's offshore banking operations.

Senior leadership

The following list indicates the chairmen and chief executives from the incorporation of Lloyds Banking Corporation in 1865 and the creation of the chief executive position in 1945. The chairman and chief executive of Lloyds Bank is held ex-officio by the chairman and chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group.

List of chairmen

  1. Timothy Kenrick (1865–1868)
  2. Sampson Samuel Lloyd (1868–1886)
  3. Thomas Salt (1886–1898)
  4. John Spencer Philips (1898–1909)
  5. Sir Richard Vassar-Smith (1909–1922)
  6. Lord Waddington (1922–1945)
  7. Lord Balfour of Burleigh (1945–1954)
  8. Lord Franks (1954–1962)
  9. Sir Harald Peake (1962–1969)
  10. Sir Eric Faulkner (1969–1977)
  11. Sir Jeremy Morse (1977–1993)
  12. Sir Robin Ibbs (1993–1997)
  13. Sir Brian Pitman (1997–2001)
  14. Maarten van den Bergh (2001–2006)
  15. Sir Victor Blank (2006–2009)
  16. Sir Winfried Bischoff (2009–2014)
  17. Lord Blackwell (2014–2020)
  18. Robin Budenberg (2021– )

List of chief executives

  1. Sydney Parkes (1945)
  2. E. Whitley-Jones and A.H. Ensor (1946–1950)
  3. A.H. Ensor (1951–1952)
  4. A.H. Ensor and E.J. Hill (1953–1954)
  5. E.J. Hill and G.Y. Hinwood (1955–1957)
  6. E.J. Hill (1957–1959)
  7. E.J. Hill and E.J.N. Warburton (1959–1960)
  8. E.J.N. Warburton (1960–1966)
  9. M.T. Wilson (1967–1972)
  10. B.H. Piper (1973–1978)
  11. Norman Jones (1978–1983)
  12. Sir Brian Pitman (1984–1997)
  13. Sir Peter Elwood (1997–2003)
  14. Eric Daniels (2003–2011)
  15. Sir António Horta-Osório (2011–2021)
  16. Charlie Nunn (2021– )

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Lloyds Bank para niños

  • Lloyds Bank Ltd v Bundy
  • Lloyds Bank plc v Rosset
  • Lloyds Bank plc v Independent Insurance Co Ltd
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