Northern Rock to stay in the North East
Oct 29 2009 By William Green and Adrian Pearson, The Journal
Could it be Virgin territory?
SIR Richard Branson is keeping a "very close eye" on banking developments as Northern Rock goes up for sale.
The entrepreneur’s Virgin Money group previously tried to buy the Rock and is now gearing itself to become a fully-fledged bank.
A spokesman for the company said yesterday: "I don’t have any specific comment on it. We lodged an application for a banking licence early in October. We have no final plans or deal to announce. But clearly we are keeping a very close eye on the developments in the banking sector."
Interest has also surrounded the intentions of the banking arm of supermarket Tesco – which is creating a new call centre in Newcastle – but it declined to comment on Northern Rock.
