It bought Abbey in 2004 , Manchester & Leeds , Alliance & Leicester in 2005 . António Horta-Osório , Chief Executive of Santander UK , added : `` The success of our UK business has given us the confidence to move to the Santander name now and with Spanish bank group expected to rename around 1,000 bank branches across Europe by end of January . Group CEO : ` ` Decision to become Santander will put us in an even stronger position the UK ''
It bought Abbey in 2004 , Manchester & Leeds , Alliance & Leicester in 2005 . Spanish bank group expected to rename around 1,000 bank branches across Europe by end of January . Group CEO : ` ` Decision to become Santander will put us in an even stronger position the UK ''