Alliance & Leicester bought Abbey in January , Santander , Alliance & Leicester in January . It has has 90 million customers , around 14,000 branches -- more than any other international bank -- and over 170,000 employees . Spanish banking group expected to rename around 1,000 bank branches across UK by end of 2004 . Group CEO : ` ` Decision to become Santander will put us in an even stronger position the UK ''
Alliance & Leicester bought Abbey in January , Santander , Alliance & Leicester in January . Spanish banking group expected to rename around 1,000 bank branches across UK by end of 2004 . Group CEO : `` Decision to become Santander will put us in an even stronger position the UK ''