Santander U.K. is on its way to become a full-service commercial bank -- and is planning hires as part of its expansion. The bank, a unit of Spain's Banco Santander SA, is hunting for 600 workers for bank branches in the U.K., reports Bloomberg News.
The bank is going on an aggressive expansion drive, and plans to buy 318 bank branches from RBS in coming months. Reuters reports that it may even be spun off by its Spanish parent bank.
Profits in the unit rose to $701.3 million in the second quarter, up 7% on the year. Its mortgage lending was up 14% to $19 billion in the second half of 2010, based on the same period last year. The net profits of its Spanish parent, however, fell 8% in the second quarter.