Pakistani bank rebrands in UK

LONDON: A major Pakistani bank has been rebranded in the UK with the objective of enabling it gain more recognition from Pakistanis but also to help Pakistan’s financial sector. United National Bank Limited (UNB) will be now known as the United Bank UK (UBL-UK).
A grand opening ceremony here was attended by Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister Alistair Burt MP, Sir Anwar Pervez OBE, Pakistan’s envoy to the UK Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Conservative MP Rehman Chishti, President UBL Atif Bokhari, CEO of Bestway Group Zameer Chaudhry, CEO United Bank UK Mansoor Khan, Dawood Chaudhry and leading members of the Pakistani community.
The FCO minister praised the launch of the bank on the UK high streets and praised the role Diaspora communities play in the development of Pakistan. “Pakistani Diaspora is important to the future of Pakistan. UK’s relationship with Pakistan is strong and it gains strength from the strong connection British Pakistanis have with their country of origin. This relation is demonstrated in the number of visits each year between the two countries and the growing relations between the two countries and its people. The United Bank UK opening also acknowledges the fact that London is the world’s foremost financial capital of the world.”
Sir Pervez said it was an exciting occasion to embark on a new horizon. He touched upon his historical relationship with UBL-UK going back to the early 1970s. “It’s not just a name change, it’s like reaching out to new frontiers. It will provide us with enormous potential and business prospects. It is a proud moment for me to witness the re-emergence of UBL in UK, entering into the UK market as the internationally recognised premier Pakistani bank.”
Mansoor Khan hoped that UBL-UK would perform better to send more remittances to Pakistan by offering more facilities and better products. “Only about five percent have business while the rest send money to Pakistan through remittances which comes up to nearly one billion dollars a year from the UK only. We will look into ways of strengthening it more. Rebranding will help us in further enhancing the available infrastructure, product portfolio and client base.” Khan said that the Bestway Group was the best placed business entity to take over the UBL as its annual turnover is nearly £3 billion and it is the biggest Pakistani owned business.
One of the reasons to change the name came after the United National Bank didn’t get a lot of recognition as a Pakistani bank, whereas United Bank UK is better recognised and easily identified as a high street bank. The UBL-UK board of directors approved the rebranding of the name after long consultations, hoping that more Pakistanis will use it.
Atif Bokhari spoke about the history of the UBL and how it had faced tough conditions to grow into a strong brand. He said there was a perception that Pakistanis were looking to invest out of Pakistan but “Sir Anwar Pervez has continuously invested in Pakistan and has shown that Pakistan offers good business opportunities. UBL is committed to upholding its strong work ethics and its commitment to helping Pakistan progress through all means. I have full faith the future outlook is brighter for all the stakeholders.”