Santander in fresh Williams & Glyn bid

The English business with more than 300 branches and 1.7million customers was due to be rebranded under the Williams & Glyn name next year.

But the new reports claim an offer from Santander could be agreed as early as this week, although both banking giant have refused to comment on the speculation.

A statement from Santander said: “Whilst our focus is organic growth, we will continue to analyse opportunities in our core 10 markets where they add value and benefit to our customers and shareholders. That said, we do not comment on rumours or market speculation.”

An earlier Santander deal for the business collapsed in 2012 due to IT issues and RBS began planning for a £2bn stock market flotation.

But RBS chief executive Ross McEwan has said the separation is the world’s most complex banking IT project and talks with trade buyers renewed this year as listing prospects faded.

As a standalone, W&G would rank as the UK’s seventh-largest bank, with around two per cent of the personal current account market and five per cent of the SME market.