 | |
 Former historic headquarters of Clydesdale Bank on St Vincent Place,Glasgow | |
| Company type | Trading name |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking,Financial services |
| Founded | 2 March 1838 (1838-03-02) May 1838 (official opening) |
| Headquarters | Glasgow, Scotland, UK |
Key people | James Pettigrew (Chairman) Chris Rhodes (Chief Executive Officer) |
| Services | Retail banking SME banking |
| Revenue | SeeParent company |
| SeeParent company | |
| SeeParent company | |
| Total assets | SeeParent company |
Number of employees | SeeParent company |
| Parent | Clydesdale Bank plc |
| Website | www |
Clydesdale Bank (Scottish Gaelic:Banca Dhail Chluaidh)[1] is a trading name used byClydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations inScotland.
In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank plc's holding company,CYBG, would acquireVirgin Money for £1.7 billion in an all-stock deal, and that Clydesdale Bank plc's Clydesdale Bank,Yorkshire Bank andB brands would be phased out in favour of Virgin Money's brand, including the renaming of parent company CYBG plc to Virgin Money UK plc. Clydesdale Bank, along with Virgin Money and Yorkshire Bank (B's rebrand to Virgin Money was completed in 2019), currently operate as trading divisions of Clydesdale Bank plc under its banking licence.
Clydesdale Bank is set to become a trading name ofNationwide Building Society on 2 April 2026, subject to court approval, after Nationwide's acquisition of Virgin Money UK plc in October 2024.[2][3]
Following the announcement of theCYBG's takeover ofVirgin Money in 2018 and planned phasing-out of the Clydesdale Bank brand by 2021 in favour of Virgin Money, it was announced that Virgin Money would continue to issue banknotes under the Clydesdale brand after 2021.[4]
Until prevented by theBank Charter Act 1844, privately owned banks inGreat Britain and Ireland were permitted to issue their own banknotes, and money issued by provincial Scottish,[5] English, Welsh and Irish banking companies circulated freely as a means of payment.[6] While the Bank of England eventually gained a monopoly for issuing banknotes in England and Wales, banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retained the right to issue their own banknotes and continue to do so to this day. In Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, theRoyal Bank of Scotland andBank of Scotland still print their ownbanknotes.
The current designs were released in autumn 2009.[7] The obverse designs feature famous Scots while the reverse designs feature Scotland'sUNESCOWorld Heritage Sites.
| Image | Value | Main Colour | Design | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obverse | Reverse | Obverse | Reverse | |||
| [1] | [2] | £5 | Blue | Sir Alexander Fleming | St Kilda | |
| [3] | [4] | £10 | Brown | Robert Burns | Edinburgh Old and New Towns | |
| [5] | [6] | £20 | Purple | King Robert the Bruce | New Lanark | |
| [7] | [8] | £50 | Green | Elsie Inglis | The Antonine Wall | |
| [9] | [10] | £100 | Red | Charles Rennie Mackintosh | Neolithic Orkney | |
The previous series of Clydesdale notes each depicted a notable person from Scottish history:[8]
An image of Adam Smith also features on the £20 note issued in 2007 by theBank of England, granting Smith the unique status of being the only person to feature on banknotes issued by two different British banks, and the first Scot to appear on a Bank of England banknote.[9]
The Clydesdale Bank ceased issuing £1 notes in the late 1980s. These latterly had an image of Robert the Bruce, whilst the contemporaneous £20 notes had an image ofLord Kelvin.
The £10 notes issued from 1971 bore an image of Scottish explorerDavid Livingstone with palm tree leaves and an illustration of Africantribesmen on the back.[10] A later issue showed Livingstone against a background graphic of a map of his Zambezi expedition, showing theRiver Zambezi,Victoria Falls,Lake Nyasa andBlantyre, Malawi; on the reverse, the African figures were replaced with an image of Livingstone's birthplace inBlantyre.[11]
Occasionally the Clydesdale Bank issues specialcommemorative banknotes to mark particular occasions or to celebrate famous people. These notes are much sought after by collectors and they rarely remain long in circulation. Examples to date have included:[12][13]
In March 2015, the Clydesdale Bank became the first bank in Great Britain to issuepolymer banknotes. The £5 commemorative notes, issued to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the construction of the Forth Bridge, are printed byDe La Rue and are the first in Europe to use the company's "Safeguard" polymer substrate security feature. The notes also use the "Spark Orbital" security feature which depicts a reflective map of Scotland over a transparent "window" in the banknote.[16][17]
Although the Clydesdale's 2015 issue are the first plastic banknotes issued within Great Britain, these are not the first polymer banknotes to be issued in the United Kingdom — in 1999, theNorthern Bank (now Danske Bank) issued a series of polymer £5 notes depicting the USSpace Shuttle. The Bank of England issued a polymer £5 note for the first time in September 2016.[18]
In March 2005, Clydesdale Bank became one of the official partners of theScottish Commonwealth Games Team, at the2006 Commonwealth Games inMelbourne, Australia. This sponsorship builds on the relationship formed by its parent, NAB Group, who are one of the Games' main sponsors as well as a key partner with the Australian team, whilst the sister company,Bank of New Zealand, has joined forces to support its national team. The bank also released a series of Ten Pound (£10) notes with aCommonwealth Games related theme for the occasion.
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