James Oates III

1997 – The planning for the launch of the One account commenced in the Spring of 1997 as a joint venture between Virgin Direct (Virgin’s financial services company) and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

The One account was launched on 17 October 1997 to Virgin Direct’s 200,000 strong customer base and was an immediate hit.

1998 – After the successful launch to Virgin Direct customers, the One account advertised direct to the public for the first time in May 1998.

A high profile TV campaign followed in September – to reinforce and build on the growing awareness of the One account in the UK.

1999 – In 1999, research from NOP Financial and David Goldreich of The London Business School proved that eight out of every ten people in the UK with borrowings of more than £50,000 would be better off with a One account.

The findings were widely reported in the press – and supported with a press and TV marketing campaign sharing the news. Not surprisingly the popularity of the account increased still further.

2000 – We caused a furor within the banking industry with our January 2000 marketing campaign – promoting the Virgin One account with posters which cheekily suggested ‘all the rest are bankers’. A full Internet banking service for One account customers was launched on Valentine’s day.

In March, Richard Branson stepped to the forefront by jokingly changing his name to “Frank” for a new marketing campaign, declaring “You know me as Richard – but now I want to be Frank – there’s a better way for you to manage your money”.

At the end of 2000, the company had acquired well over 50,000 customers, lent more than £2.5 billion (pounds) and doubled in size year on year.

2001 – The year started with a marketing campaign designed to bring the company’s ‘uncommon sense’ philosophy to life.

The TV ad, which showed challenging situations that required the viewer to confront their preconceptions, was a massive hit – and was even the subject of a sketch by Rory Bremner on his TV show.

The thought that the One account defied the traditional ‘common sense’ view in banking to deliver a much better result – ‘uncommon sense’ – was rolled out across all press and poster advertising through the Spring and into the Summer.

In June, the Virgin One account scooped both Best Mortgage provider and Best Current Account provider at the Guardian/Observer Consumer Finance awards.

More awards followed in August when the One account won the prestigious Unisys Service Excellence award.

2002 – In January, the Virgin One account launched sales of the One account through intermediaries – forming business partnerships with some of the biggest IFA networks in the country.

In the same month we launched a £10 million (pounds) advertising campaign called ‘Live your life differently’ – which communicated the value and flexibility of the One account and asked people to think differently about their lives and finances.

We also wrote to all of our customers asking them to share their experiences of how the One account has changed their lives. The response was overwhelming and stories ranged from customers who have been able to pay off their mortgage years early to people giving up their jobs and using the flexibility of the One account to achieve their life’s ambition. Many of these stories were featured in our advertising.

In June, the Virgin One account scooped both Best Mortgage provider and Best Current Account provider at the Guardian/Observer Consumer Finance awards.

Our philosophy of focusing on customers’ needs continued to prove successful as we celebrated lending over £5billion (pounds).

2003 – From January 2003, we became known simply as The One account.  A big advertising campaign saw us use characters from the classic children’s TV program, Hector’s House, to show how a couple of simple changes will help you make the most of your money.

Awards continued to flood in with The One account picking up ‘Best Mortgage Provider’ for the 3rd year running at The Guardian/Observer Consumer Finance Awards, ‘Best Current Account and Offset Mortgage Provider’ at the Moneyfacts Awards, ‘Best Current Account Mortgage’ at the Your Mortgage Awards and ‘Lifestyle Lender of the Year’ at the Mortgage Strategy Awards.

2004 – In 2004 we’re taking The One account to even more people. We want to show everyone how we can help them achieve their goals.

Everyone has something they’ve always wanted to do ‘one day’ – it might be repaying their mortgage early, backpacking around the world or just having more time to themselves. Whatever their goal, we believe we can help people make ‘one day’ today – just by bringing their finances together in the One account.