Vowel movement: Abrdn renames itself Aberdeen to remove ‘distractions’

Abrdn hit out last year at what it said was ‘corporate bullying’ over the name change. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

When the UK fund manager Aberdeen removed the vowels from its name four years ago, it prompted a wave of whimsical mickey-taking and caused its boss to accuse those mocking Abrdn of “corporate bullying”. Now, its new boss has performed a U-turn and returned to the company’s original name – but without capital letters.

Alongside the Edinburgh-based company’s annual results, the chief executive, Jason Windsor, the former finance chief who was promoted to the top job in September, announced the “pragmatic decision” to bring back its vowels – and remove any “distractions”.