A twelve-month integration plan. Customers, colleagues and the regulator see one bank doing its job from the first Monday, and nobody hears about their branch from the local paper.
Five people across two banks, four working sessions. These are their words, and the rest of this page answers them in order.
“Our members joined a mutual. They'll want to know it still is one.”
“We can't have a single quarter where the regulator sees two sets of numbers.”
“The app is the thing our customers love. Please don't take it away from them.”
“Our core contract ends in March 2028. That's the real deadline, whatever the plan says.”
“Our people are reading about this in the Saltmere Gazette.”
Scroll and the two banks move together. Leadership on top, every branch below, drawn to the same scale.
Today. Two boards, two executive teams, 112 branches split between two names.
Together you're a $15.3 billion bank with 700,000 customers, 3,100 colleagues and 112 branches. Fifteen of those branches sit within a short walk of a branch from the other bank. What happens to them is the question your colleagues will ask first.
Flip between them. Everything below redraws, from the branch map to the name above the door.
Customers notice almost nothing, which is the point. Cards, apps, branches and account numbers all work the way they did on Friday.
Each chapter answers one question from the September sessions, written for the person who asked it.
Twelve big choices were made in due diligence. Every one went through the same scored test, and both boards saw the scores before the vote.
For Margaret, Chief Executive, Harrow Mutual, and Owen, Chief Executive, Eastgate Savings, on behalf of both boards.
| The choice | What we keep | From | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core banking | Harrow's platform, contracted to 2033 and already cloud-hosted | Harrow | H 84 · E 61 |
| Mobile app | Eastgate's app, rated 4.7 against 3.9 | Eastgate | H 58 · E 88 |
| Chair of the board | Eastgate's chair, set in the merger agreement | Eastgate | agreed |
| Chief executive | Harrow's chief executive, set in the merger agreement | Harrow | agreed |
| Head office | Harrow's Northgate building | Harrow | H 77 · E 70 |
| Operations center | Eastgate's Leeming Street site | Eastgate | H 66 · E 79 |
| Card processor | Harrow's, pending Eastgate's exit fee | Harrow | H 72 · E 69 |
| Contact centers | Eastgate's model, 84 percent of calls fixed first time against 71 | Eastgate | H 63 · E 81 |
| Savings range | Eastgate's five accounts replace Harrow's eleven | Eastgate | H 59 · E 76 |
| Mortgage underwriting | Harrow's rules and Harrow's team | Harrow | H 80 · E 64 |
| Risk appetite | Harrow's framework, with Eastgate's climate limits added | Harrow | H 75 · E 68 |
| The name above the door | Still open, see the questions below | New | due Day 60 |
The regulator sees a single bank on 31 March 2027, eight weeks after Day 1. We rehearse that quarter-end twice before it counts.
For Dana, Chief Risk Officer of the combined bank.
Both finance teams close a fake quarter together. Every difference gets an owner before Day 1.
Signed by the combined board on the close weekend, with Eastgate's climate limits carried across.
One capital return, one liquidity return. A second dry run happens in the week before.
Every one of the fifteen decisions is checked for customer impact before a colleague or customer hears it.
Two full rehearsals done, the third booked, rollback tested end to end.
The supervisor has a seat on the go or no-go call. So do you.
Legal completion runs from Friday 29 January to Monday 1 February. Drag through it and watch the five systems your team reports on.
For Rafael, Chief Operating Officer of the combined bank.
Every branch shuts at the usual time. Eastgate runs its last end-of-day batch as Eastgate.
Percent of the 3,100 colleagues with a confirmed role, by date. Nobody waits for the last bar to hear the first thing.
For Nia, Head of People of the combined bank.
The integration office runs the whole year. The four workstreams are where your teams could take work back. Switch anything off and the total redraws.
We'd keep everything switched on. If something has to go, drop Branches and customers, because Harrow's marketing team rebranded 38 branches in 2019 without outside help. Keep Regulators whatever happens.
Three phases, sized to the work in them. The conversion weekend sits two months clear of Eastgate's core contract ending.
Our readiness team has been with you since September under the planning letter. This proposal covers the twelve months after it.
Fees are billed at the end of each month for the phases and workstreams you've kept. No retainer up front.
Thirty days' notice before a phase ends, no penalty. We hand over the plan, the risk log and every document in a state your team can run.
Hannah leads the engagement for the full twelve months. Nobody senior is swapped out without the committee's agreement.
Plans, run sheets, models and letters belong to the combined bank from the day they're written.
If you choose it, your internal audit confirms each milestone. We don't mark our own homework.
The brand work assumes the boards decide by Day 60. If the name slips, the one-name date of 15 January slips with it, week for week.
Needs a board decision by 1 April 2027The exit fee isn't confirmed. A high number could make it cheaper to wait for renewal and move cards in Phase 3.
Eastgate legal to confirm by 20 NovemberA capital condition on approval could move the first combined quarter-end. We've planned for one and can absorb it.
Expected with approval in January