Woolwich Bank

The Woolwich is the trading name of Barclays Bank, and was the trading name of one of the initial permanent building societies - the Woolwich Building Society, which was founded in 1847.

As one of the biggest building societies in the UK, the Woolwich Bank became famous for a series of TV advertisements with the slogan, “I’m with the Woolwich” in 1980s. The Woolwich Bank also sponsored Charlton Athletic, a local football team.

When Woolwich Building Society demutualised (demutualization, according to Wikipedia is the process by which mutual organizations or companies convert themselves to ‘for-profit’ (or profit-making) public companies, which distribute profits to their shareholders in the form of dividends) in 1997 it gave up its mutual status of being a PLC. Another company, Woolwich PLC was a member of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), giving share holdings to investors and borrowers in the society.

But in 2000, Woolwich PLC was bought by Barclays Bank and thereby became a part of the Barclays Bank Group of Companies. So, after the 2000 acquisition of Woolwich PLC, Barclay retained the brand name Woolwich while also retaining the Woolwich Bank’s Head Office in Bexleyheath in London.

Today, Barclays is one of the largest banks in the world. But Barclays grew from modest beginnings back in the dark streets of London in the 17 th century. Barclays is poised to have a much stronger presence in the financial markets across the world. As a financial services organisation, Barclays Bank is involved in lending, investing etc for over 27 million consumers world-wide including everyone from corporations to retails bankers.

Barclays PLC is offers financial services solutions world-wide. Firmly established across all seven continents, Barclays PLC, the holding company for Barclays Bank, is also listed on both London and New York Stock Exchanges. Headquartered in both London and New York, Barclays is committed to serving the financial needs of customers in Europe, US, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Asia.

Over the years, Barclays Bank has developed a highly diverse and extremely strong portfolio offering multitude of financial services to help customers and clients manage their assets in the most beneficial ways.

Here’s an overview of Barclays Bank’s two main businesses, each of which has been subdivided into multiple business units:

Commercial and Global Retail Banking:

1. In UK - Retail Banking & Business Banking
2. Barclaycard – Credit Cards
3. Global Commercial and Retail Banking
4. Absa

Investment Management and Banking:

1. Barclays Capital
2. Barclays Global Investors
3. Barclays Wealth

Just last year, 28 th June 2006, Barclays Bank made an announcement regarding the Woolwich Bank. According to the announcement, the Woolwich will become the mortgage brand for Barclays in the UK and will be ably supported by all Barclays Bank’s branches. Furthermore, Woolwich Bank’s branches will be re-branded as Barclays Bank’s branches and the migration of all Woolwich Bank’s accounts to Barclays will be completed by early 2007.