Virgin Money has signalled its intent to take on the ‘Big Five’ banks with the launch of its retail store in Market Street, Manchester, the first of the new generation retail spaces that will appear in towns and cities throughout the country. The store offers an entirely different high street banking experience, as the Group looks to disrupt the banking status quo here in the UK.

The opening of the store in Manchester represents the first stage in the physical rebrand. This initial phase sees the relaunch of the three current flagship B stores – located in Manchester, Birmingham and London (Kensington) – as Virgin Money stores. All carry the new distinctive Virgin Money branding and follow the new store concept which reimagines what a bank branch should be. The stores are a place for entrepreneurs to co-work and create, offering free coffee, a venue for events and concerts, a social media studio for content creation, and more. The stores are a key part of Virgin Money’s customer proposition to support its 6.6m personal, small business and mortgage customers and they will be open to both customers and non-customers. In addition, Virgin Money plans to use the stores to introduce customers to products and services from other Virgin companies.

As well as the new store openings, Virgin Money has also launched its first digital current account and banking app, which is accessible through multiple channels – mobile app, online, in store and over the phone. Anyone interested in finding out more about the current account can do so in the new Manchester store.

Ryan Walker, City Centre Manager for Virgin Money in Manchester, said: “The opening of our Virgin Money store in Manchester is a significant milestone in our rebrand process, and the enhancement of our customer proposition. Our physical presence will remain central to our offering as we look to disrupt the UK banking status quo. The store concept – encompassing co-working spaces, venues for events, concerts and more – represents a new kind of high street bank, and one tailored to our customers’ needs.

“All of this is supported by the launch of our new app and digitally-enabled current account. Together, updates to our physical and online offering mean we’re creating a new force in consumer and business banking.”

Manchester has been selected as one of the main locations for the Virgin Money retail outlets due to its strong retail offering and the store builds on the success and learnings from the previous B Works store, which opened in January 2019.

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