And you thought you had property problems

The Bank of Scotland, whose audacious bid for NatWest is still on the table, plans to move almost all of the larger bank's 1700 branches if its acquisition is successful. The smaller bank says they are either in the wrong place or twice as large as they need to be.

"Refurbishing old branches doesn't work," says chief executive Peter Burt. BoS favours small branches, typified by the 'bank in a box' concept - cash machines and a service desk in a workplace or community centre.

Elliott Chase