Advance is a certified, independent trade union affiliated to the TUC representing workers within the bank

Santander UK Santander UK plc (, ) is a British bank, wholly owned by Banco Santander, a Spanish bank. Santander UK plc manages its affairs autonomously, with its own local management team, responsible solely for its performance. Santander UK is one of th ...

, the UK subsidiary of

Santander Group Banco Santander S.A. trading as Santander Group ( , , ), is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Santander, with operative offices in Madrid. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in most global financial centres ...

. The union was formerly known as the Abbey National Group Union (ANGU) before it expanded to include staff of

Alliance & Leicester Alliance & Leicester plc was a British bank and former building society, formed by the merger in 1985 of the Alliance Building Society and the Leicester Building Society. The business Demutualisation, demutualised in the middle of 1997, when ...

and

Bradford & Bingley Bradford & Bingley plc was a British bank with headquarters in the West Yorkshire town of Bingley. The bank was formed in December 2000 by demutualisation of the Bradford & Bingley Building Society following a vote of the building society's me ...

following their acquisitions by Santander. Its aims are the supporting and representing its members in all aspects of their employment.

History

The union was established in 1977 as the Abbey National Staff Association, and it received a certificate of independence the following year. In 2001 concerns were raised about whether the union was 'genuinely independent' of the Abbey National, however, following enquiries, the

Certification Officer The Trades Union Certification Officer was established in the United Kingdom by the Employment Protection Act 1975. They head the Certification Office for Trade Unions and Employers' Associations. Responsibilities The Certification Officer is res ...

confirmed its status without the need for a formal review. The union affiliated to the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

in 1998. In 1999, it changed its name to ANSA - the independent union for Abbey National Staff, and in 2002 it changed it again, becoming the "Abbey National Group Union". By 2003, it had a membership of 8,970, three-quarters women, which was more than 30% of all staff eligible to join. It was renamed "Advance" in 2009 after the acquisition of Alliance & Leicester by the Santander Group. Later in the year, the Union for Bradford and Bingley Staff and Associated Companies merged with Advance after Santander bought the branches and savings business of Bradford & Bingley.

Organisation

The current

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

is Jim Leonard, who has led the union since 2024. It has its Head Office in

Tring Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, with a current membership of 8,063. Of its total expenditure in 2008 of £631,230, £161,194 was spent on services to directly to members. The union organises various levels of representative, members holding 'lay positions' (i.e. unpaid, and additional to work duties). These are: Office representative; Area representative; Health & Safety representative; Lifelong Learning representative; and NEC representative.

References

External links

Official WebsiteTU Certification Office Returns
{{Authority control Trade unions in the United Kingdom 1977 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1977 Finance sector trade unions Trade unions based in Hertfordshire Trade unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress