Halifax gears up for new ways of doing business

The Halifax is set to occupy a 5000sqm building on an Edinburgh business park, where 500 staff will launch a new internet banking service.

Jim Spowart, formerly MD at the highly successful Standard Life Bank, has been recruited to lead a new business venture targeted at non-Halifax customers. To be given its own branding and organisation, this new venture intends to make full use of screen-based technologies to provide a wide range of banking services.

The Halifax has adopted a course of diversifying its earnings base, as well as maximising the opportunities of new technology.

It plans to invest more than £100M in this venture as well as in enhancements for the existing customer servicing operations at the telephone banking arm Halifax Direct.

Based in Leeds, Halifax Direct already handles 25 million customer calls a year. Plans were recently announced for a complementary centre in Belfast.

Elliott Chase