AddThis SmartLayers

Paper's fury at merger decision

The Halifax Courier has blasted the chief executive of the Halifax on the announcement of a £28m merger with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The merger means the Halifax HQ will now relocate to Edinburgh with the expected loss of 2,000 jobs in Yorkshire.

And in a front page comment piece, the Courier says Halifax bosses are selling out their own workers.

Special condemnation is reserved for chief executive James Crosby who is labelled ‘a crypto-Caledonian’.

Since merger talks began, the Courier has been calling for the proposed mega-company to operate from the Halifax’s existing base rather than relocating to Scotland.

Courier representatives even travelled to last week’s AGM in Edinburgh and handed out special editions of the paper to shareholders and directors.

The paper is now bitter at what is sees as a betrayal by those in charge of the Halifax.

The Courier’s front page comment said: “The way they tell it, the deal is pure Del Boy ‘everyone’s a winner’.

“The Scottish minnow swallows the Yorkshire whale. A few thousand jobs are spat out in the process and Burt (BoS chief executive) and Crosby are heroes.

“Or are they? They’ve got a deal by which two great financial institutions have merged – in the process destroying the rooted, regional identity of the Halifax and burying it in the ugly acronym HBOS.

“Those four letters say it all. History and heritage are nothing in the hyper world of mega-mergers.”

Back to the campaigns index

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111 x6022, or e-mail us now