Abbey wins Best Bank in the UK

Euromoney magazine has named Abbey ‘Best Bank in the UK' for the second consecutive year. The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are the benchmark for the financial industry. The awards are decided by the editors of Euromoney on the basis of objective figures such as profitability, growth and efficiency, combined with subjective criteria.

In presenting the award, Euromoney said, "All the momentum in UK banking lies with the bank that Santander is building on the foundations of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley." Santander's market share grew to 11% in commercial banking at the end of 2008, while the bank attracted 500,000 new customers last year, Euromoney noted.

António Horta-Osório, Chief Executive of Santander's UK Businesses, said: "When we won the award last year it clearly demonstrated the progress we've made in transforming Abbey. To maintain this progress, complete two major acquisitions and deliver outstanding financial results despite the most difficult of market conditions, is even more pleasing and I know this played a major part in Euromoney's decision to award us the top prize again this year."

Abbey's recognition was part of a very successful evening for the Santander Group which picked up the awards for Best Bank in Western Europe, Best Bank in Spain, Chile and Portugal and Best in Project Finance in Latin America.