The deck chairs are currently being rearranged by the TSB Executive Committee.
TSB’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Declan Hourican, is leaving. TSB said that Mr. Hourican resigned before the Santander deal was announced. However, whilst that may be true, Mr Hourican would have been aware that Sabadell was planning to offload TSB. He won’t be the last.
Santander has now made it clear that the TSB brand will disappear. Dame Ana Botin, the Executive Chairman of Banco Santander, said it: “intends to integrate TSB in the Santander UK group.”.
Santander UK has said it’s too early to disclose the details of any cost reductions that would be made once the takeover is approved by the regulator in early 2026. However, analysts are speculating the deal will generate savings of 13% of the combined Santander UK and TSB cost base. Most of those cost savings will come from TSB.
It’s not a takeover of equals, so you can expect all the TSB executive management to go almost immediately. We wouldn’t be surprised if more of them don’t jump ship before the deal is finalised.
In all this continuing speculation about what Santander is going to do, it’s the staff who are forgotten. TSB can’t answer any of the questions raised by staff and the information gap is creating a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. Simply telling staff to carry on is unacceptable. Many members are concerned about Santander replacing the agreed severance terms. The severance terms are contractual and can’t be changed, either by TSB or Santander, without the agreement of staff. In those circumstances, we would expect the existing terms to be honoured by Santander.
The PRA will have an important role to play in determining whether Santander’s takeover of TSB goes ahead. We will be writing to the PRA to make sure that the interests of TSB staff are not lost in the rush to make money.
We will keep members informed of developments.
Members with any questions should contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 716029 (choose Option 1).