Northern Rock has become part of Virgin Money - Creating a new bank that aims to make everyone better off

Virgin Money is a successful financial services company with over three million customers primarily across credit cards, general insurance, investments and pensions. In 2011 Virgin Money was named among the top 100 UK companies to work for, as voted by employees, in the Sunday Times Top 100 awards. You can find out more about Virgin Money at virginmoney.com

There will be no changes to your existing Northern Rock products. Our first priority is to make sure you continue to receive the same service and support you already enjoy. Over time, we’ll be introducing new products and services and we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear about them.

You’ll see the same faces in your local branch, offering the same support to help you do your banking quickly and easily. It’s really important to us that you continue to receive the same good service you’re used to from our Northern Rock branches.

No, Northern Rock plc and Northern Rock (Asset Management) plc are two separate legal entities. Only Northern Rock plc has become part of Virgin Money - Northern Rock (Asset Management) plc remains under Government ownership.

There will be no changes.

We want to switch over to the Virgin Money name in time, but we’re not going to rush to make the change. It’s important that we do things in a way that doesn’t affect customers and their products. We will be updating branches to reflect our plans for Virgin Money Stores over the course of the year, and you’ll start to see Virgin Money branded communications and products being introduced over the first half of the year.

There will be absolutely no change to the level of protection your savings enjoy through the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

In the short-term, you will have separate FSCS protection for both your Northern Rock and Virgin Money savings but over time this may change as we bring the two businesses together. We will write to you to confirm when any changes are made.

Until then, if you opened your Virgin Money savings account before 5 January 2012, this will be protected by the Virgin Money FSCS membership. Any Northern Rock savings accounts you hold, as well as any Virgin Money accounts opened from 5 January, are protected under Northern Rock's FSCS membership.

There are no changes to how you should service your Northern Rock products so please continue to do things in the way you currently do.

Absolutely. All Northern Rock customers are welcome to use Virgin Money Lounges. Just take proof of your Northern Rock product (such as a statement) when you pop in.

Virgin Money offers a wide range of financial products, from credit cards and investments (including stocks and shares ISAs) to personal pensions and insurance (including car and travel insurance). Visit virginmoney.com to find out more.

Yes, all Virgin Money customers (including Northern Rock customers) have automatic access to discounts and deals with Virgin companies and other leading high street names. Visit myvirginmoney.com to find out more.

We plan to keep 75 Northern Rock branches and we hope to add to that number in the coming years.

Sir Richard is the founder of the Virgin Group and the inspiration behind our drive to build a real banking alternative for UK consumers. However, the day-to-day management of the bank will be done by our Chief Executive, Jayne-Anne Gadhia and her Executive team.

Not at all. Northern Rock’s Newcastle head office will be the operational headquarters of Virgin Money’s savings and mortgages business. We want
to build on the strong heritage the company has in the North East, not replace it.