RNS Number:0876P
Abbey National PLC
27 August 2003




      Abbey National appoints Tony Wyatt as Customer Operations Director


Abbey National plc today announces the appointment of Tony Wyatt to the Board as
Customer Operations Director, an Executive Director position. He takes up his
role on 1 September 2003.


Tony will take over from Mac Millington, who announced on 25 June 2003 his
intention to take early retirement. Mac will help with the handover until 30
September 2003.


Tony, 54, joins Abbey National with over 25 years' experience in operations
including 17 years at Midland Bank. He joined in 1976 as a Systems Analyst and
held a number of senior posts before being appointed Banking Systems Director in
1990. During his time at Midland, Tony worked on the centralisation of all
processing activities out of the branch network. He was also closely involved in
the planning and launch of First Direct, the UK's first branchless bank.


In 1993, following the takeover of Midland by HSBC, Tony moved to Guardian Royal
Exchange as Director of Group Development where he was responsible for the
company's IT and HR, operations in southern Asia, and the establishment of an
online health claims processing centre in India.


In 1999, he joined AT&T's Consumer Division as Vice President of Operations,
Technology and Planning, and was appointed CIO in the same year. In the
following year he moved, with the CEO, to New Power to become Managing Director
of Operations and Technology. New Power was created as an energy marketer
following the deregulation of the US energy market. He remained with the company
until November 2002.


Tony presently works as an Affiliate Director for Novantas, a New York-based
global consulting company that specialises in the creation of customer service
solutions.


Luqman Arnold, Chief Executive of Abbey National, said: "Customer Operations
underpins all we are trying to achieve at Abbey National. We can only succeed in
delivering our new strategy to focus on UK personal financial services if we get
the operational end right. Tony has a great track record and a wealth of
operations experience including leading the implementation of company-wide
changes. Given the huge organisational transformation we are undertaking, he is
the ideal person to lead our Customer Operations team and further develop and
implement the work begun by Mac Millington.


"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mac again for the enormous
contribution he has made to Abbey National and for helping us to lay the
foundations of our new strategy. We wish him all the best for his retirement."


Tony Wyatt said: "Abbey National has set out to change the landscape in UK
banking, so this is a marvellous opportunity to join a company that is trying to
be truly different from everyone else. The role comes with some significant
challenges, as Abbey National is undergoing enormous change but I'm looking
forward to playing my part."


Tony will be responsible for all Abbey National operational areas including
product operations for banking, savings and insurance, customer contact centres,
debt management, asset management operations, payment services and sourcing.


There are no matters requiring disclosure under Section 16.4 of the FSA Listing
Rules.



Ends



Enquiries to:


Christina Mills
Head of Media Relations
Tel: 020 775 64212


Matt Young
Media Relations
Tel: 020 775 64232


Jon Burgess
Head of Investor Relations
020 775 64182


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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