Britannia appoints Green Room Retail to help integrate Bristol & West

by Joe Gill, Brand Republic 29-Mar-06, 08:10

LONDON - Britannia Building Society has appointed design consultancy Green Room Retail to integrate its graphic identity following last year's acquisition of Bristol & West building society.

Birmingham-based GRR was appointed to the task following a four-way pitch at the end of last year, with a brief to create in-store graphics, directional signage, Perspex fixtures and window display for the merged building society.

Britannia, the UK's second-biggest building society, bought the Bristol & West savings business and branch network from Bank of Ireland for £150m last May, acquiring its 97 branches and 850,000 customers.

The transfer of the branch network and direct savings business to Britannia was completed in September. The new look refines the existing display concept of Britannia's 150 branches and is currently being rolled out nationally.

Richard Ash, GRR's managing director, said: "The addition of Bristol & West into Britannia's network creates many new exciting possibilities for us in terms of retail branding and design.

"It is great for us to be able to showcase such a forward-thinking financial organisation as part of our creative portfolio."

Stephen Jones, head of sales at Britannia Building Society said: "A fundamental part of Britannia's strategy is our commitment to maintaining an extensive branch network. Many organisations have closed their branches in favour of conducting business over the telephone or internet. As such Britannia is delighted to be working with Green Room Retail on this branch merchandising project."

Last month, the agency was appointed to redesign Aga and Fired Earth's stores following a competitive pitch. GRR boasts clients including Vodafone, CAT and Umbro.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.