Banking?

A new book came out this week on the thorny subject of the RBS. It’s called RBS the Bank that broke Britain.
Written by Ian Fraser I decided that it was something I needed to read.
Why is the obvious question.
It’s because I was married to a senior manager of this bank when it was still Nat West.
All my memories of this period of my life are good ones. Nat West was a good employer. They looked after their staff. Moving house to manage different branches around the country they paid all the fees involved, including new carpets and curtains...
Once my husband was promoted to an office in the Nat West tower we lived in Essex.
The bank brought many young people from all over Britain and provided them with secure flats whilst they worked.
They were a good company to work for.
Reading of the Royal Banks rise to power I have no idea whether they treated their employees well. But I do know how upset my late husband would have been by all the events that have taken place since.
I have started to read this book, describing the slow build up as they bought out the smaller banks in Scotland.
My husband was aware of the steady rise of this bank...and bought many of their shares as well as the Nat West shares he took instead of bonuses.
The income from these shares bought all my clerical garments and my stoles when I first started in the church.
I still have them to pass on to my stepson. They may hopefully be worth something again eventually.
The whole story of the rise and subsequent fall of the RBS is of considerable interest to me...but trying to understand what motivated them is still a puzzle to me...and I am not sure that they did break Britain. I really hope not...but I’ll read the book with considerable interest.



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