Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent

NatWest takes £24m hit from abandoned ‘Tell Sid’-style campaign

Sir Trevor McDonald
TV ads for the NatWest campaign featuring the veteran newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald had already been filmed. Photograph: Neil Mockford/GC Images

NatWest was forced to spend £24m on the former Conservative government’s aborted “Tell Sid”-style campaign featuring Sir Trevor McDonald, which would have resulted in a chunk of the bank’s state-owned shares being sold to the general public in a highly anticipated privatisation drive.

The price tag emerged when the bank released its second-quarter results and announced that it was snapping up a number of mortgages from the smaller rival Metro Bank for £2.4bn.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.