Scarborough Unveils New Group Branding

Press release published on 10 November 2006 by Scarborough Building Society

Scarborough today revealed a new brand and identity visually linking the building society with its subsidiary companies.

This includes new visual styles and logos which encompass the core and subsidiary brands within the same ‘family’.

The new style will ensure that Scarborough Building Society, asset trading subsidiary North Yorkshire Mortgages (NYM) and new non-confirming lender Scarborough Specialist mortgages (SSM) will all have the same look and feel.

In the same vein, SMS Mortgage Services – which successfully achieved Fitch ratings for its primary and specialist mortgage administration activities last month – will be re-named Scarborough Mortgage Services (SMS) and will adopt a new logo reflective of its ‘sister’ organisations.

While the various brand logos will be differentiated by colour, they will be instantly recognisable as part of the growing Scarborough Group.

Chief Executive John Carrier explained how the re-branding process is reflective of Scarborough’s commitment to demonstrating a seamless link between its core and subsidiary businesses, to ensure utmost transparency for members, customers, clients and intermediaries.

‘We have spent a number of years developing an interconnected approach to doing business, through the creation of subsidiary businesses which are complementary to our core building society brand,’ he said.

‘In that time, NYM and SMS have become strong and profitable businesses in their own right, working seamlessly with our activities as a modern mutual to underpin the success and profitability of the whole Group.

‘The launch of our new non-conforming lending subsidiary, SSM, in October, was the latest piece of the jigsaw, and will enable us to cater for a whole new market segment and originate our own mortgage assets for trading.

‘All of these activities are interconnected via one of the most cutting edge, electronic end-to-end mortgage processing systems in the industry.

‘In light of this, it seemed appropriate that we should seek to represent the relationship between the different elements visually too, through a uniform brand identity where each mirrors the other though differentiated by colour.’

Head of Group Marketing, Tony Burdin, added: ‘The Scarborough Group has built up an increasingly strong presence in the marketplace over the last few years, with SMS, for example, successfully attracting a range of major international clients.

‘Through this range of activities, we have grown from being ‘just’ Scarborough Building Society to become a different kind of entity which is larger and more diverse in terms of size, scale and product offering.

‘In light of this, and the increasing profile, growth and success of the Scarborough Group, we felt the time was right to reflect this visually through a new set of complementary logos.

‘It also seems an excellent way to celebrate the awarding of our servicer ratings from Fitch, which make SMS now one of the few providers in the marketplace with what are, in effect, quality marks for its primary and specialist mortgage administration activities.

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