Virgin Money buys regional UK bank

Richard Branson’s Virgin Money launched its assault on the UK retail banking market today after agreeing a deal to buy regional bank Church House Trust.

Virgin, which will use the bank to offer savings and mortgages products to customers under the Virgin Money brand, will pay £12.3m (€13.7m) for Church House and pump £37.3m (€41.7m) in capital into the business.