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Halifax has opened its new £45m banking call centre in Belfast, and has also announced plans to create a further 100 jobs at an e-commerce centre on the site. 27-Jun-2001 Halifax is considering plans to set up a third operations centre for its Intelligent Finance internet and telephone banking business in Fife, which could lead to the creation of up to 400 jobs. 05-Jun-2001 Halifax is linking up with Nationwide and Alliance & Leicester to acquire a 51% stake in Mortgage Brain of Croydon for £5m, in order to develop a trading platform for financial advisers. 24-May-2001 Halifax is negotiating a £27bn merger with Bank of Scotland, which will create the fifth largest bank in the UK and enable Halifax to expand further into current accounts and business banking. 26-Apr-2001 Halifax has announced plans to create a further 400 jobs at its Card Services business in Cardiff this year. 07-Feb-2001 Halifax has agreed to acquire the assets of Equitable Life, the mutual life insurer, in a £1bn deal. 05-Feb-2001 Halifax is in discussions to acquire Equitable Life's fund management business, administration systems and 450-strong salesforce. 01-Feb-2001 Halifax is to close its business centre on Edinburgh's Haymarket Terrace in May, and the 90 staff will be redeployed at the Intelligent Finance division in Livingston and at retail branches. 12-Jan-2001 Halifax is to open a £45m call centre in south Belfast next year, which will lead to the creation of up to 1,500 jobs over the next four years. 31-Oct-2000 Halifax is to recruit an additional 150 staff at its Card Services headquarters in Cardiff, taking the workforce to 450 by the end of the year. 29-Sep-2000 Halifax is to close its independent financial advice division, and 130 staff will be offered alternative jobs. 28-Sep-2000 Halifax has acquired Bank One's UK credit card operation, and plans to relocate most of its existing cards business to Cardiff. 23-Jun-2000 Halifax is to shed up to 300 jobs at offices in West Yorkshire over the next six months, but there will be no compulsory redundancies. 21-Jun-2000 Halifax has announced plans to launch a number of new online accounts through its Intelligent Finance subsidiary in July, which will enable customers to set off savings against borrowings in order to obtain the best overall interest rate. 10-May-2000 Halifax is to acquire a controlling stake in St James's Place Capital for £760m, in order to develop a new internet business for the upmarket life assurer. 23-Mar-2000 Halifax is forming an alliance with BT Cellnet to develop an internet-based banking service for mobile phones, and is also planning to set up a £150m online insurance business. 17-Feb-2000 Halifax has started work on the development of a new £45m call centre in Belfast, and will work with Belfast City Council and external agencies to recruit up to 1,500 staff over the next four years. 11-Jan-2000 Halifax has confirmed plans to launch a stand-alone direct bank in May, with access via the internet, telephone, and digital TV. 06-Jan-2000 Halifax is to recruit a further 600 staff for its internet bank at a second site near Edinburgh, on top of the 500 already being hired at Edinburgh Park. 16-Dec-1999 Halifax is planning to dispose of 210 high street properties that are no longer required following its merger with Leeds Permanent. 13-Dec-1999 Halifax's life insurance division Clerical Medical has acquired Lands Improvement, the agricultural property group, in a deal that values the company at £42m. 20-Nov-1999 Halifax is to set up a separate internet and telephone banking division at a cost of £100m, with the creation of 500 jobs in Edinburgh. 06-Oct-1999 Halifax is to set up a banking call centre in Belfast with the creation of an initial 700 jobs. 14-Sep-1999 Halifax is to outsource its credit card processing to EDS, which will result in more work for EDS sites in Swansea, Durham and Sheffield. 16-Aug-1999 Halifax is planning to launch an internet share dealing and banking service in September. 28-Jul-1999 Halifax and Clerical Medical are jointly planning to build a £100m retail and leisure complex at Headrow Buildings in Leeds, and six contractors are bidding for the £30m construction management contract. 22-Jul-1999 CGU Life has acquired 49 estate agency branches from the Halifax for undisclosed terms. 06-Jul-1999 Halifax has announced plans to install cash machines at 200 Esso petrol stations, and is also seeking to increase its presence at leisure parks, railway stations and convenience stores. 04-May-1999 Halifax is planning to sell 224 of its estate agencies in order to cut 1,500 jobs and create a more efficient network of integrated retail banking and estate agency outlets. 15-Apr-1999 Halifax is considering plans to set up a financial services call centre in Belfast, and is believed to be looking for a 60,000 sq ft facility. 02-Feb-1999 Halifax is planning to form a joint venture with Cetelem to develop the French company's consumer credit business in the UK. 22-Jan-1999 Birmingham Midshires' members have approved plans for the building society to be acquired by Halifax. 12-Dec-1998 Halifax has announced an internal reorganisation to bring all its distribution channels under one management structure, but has denied it would consider merging with a clearing bank. 04-Dec-1998 Halifax is acquiring a 50% stake in contract hire company Lex Vehicle Leasing in a £162m deal, and plans to benefit from the growing demand for personal leasing contracts from people aiming to avoid the taxes on company cars. 04-Dec-1998 Halifax is said to be considering plans to launch a £2bn bid for Bupa, the private healthcare group. 19-Oct-1998 Halifax is to redevelop the former Leeds Permanent Building Society headquarters in Leeds, and it will include a 15-screen cinema developed by South African firm Ster-Kinekor. 30-Sep-1998 Halifax is proposing a £70m scheme to redevelop part of Leeds city centre, including a 149-bedroom hotel, a 15-screen cinema, 30 shops, three leisure units, and five restaurants and bars. 26-Aug-1998 Halifax has agreed the acquisition of the Birmingham Midshires building society for £750m, and will retain the Midshires brand for at least three years with no branch closures or compulsory redundancies. 31-Jul-1998 Union Bank of Switzerland is considering plans to sell PDFM, the UK fund management group, and Goldman Sachs and Halifax are both said to be interested. 20-Jun-1998 The Royal Bank of Scotland has rejected an informal merger proposal from Halifax, although no figures were included. 27-May-1998 Halifax has decided to open 100 of its bank branches permanently on Sundays, following recent trials. 21-May-1998 Halifax has made a £780m unsolicited takeover bid for Birmingham Midshires, the building society that has already agreed a £630m deal with Royal Bank of Scotland. 10-Mar-1998 Halifax is to test Sunday opening at 200 of its high-street banks from mid-March, which could enable it to attract mortgage purchasers. 29-Jan-1998 Halifax is planning to expand its telephone-selling operation during 1998 by offering mortgages, life assurance and savings, thereby utilising spare capacity that was needed for its flotation. 15-Jan-1998 Halifax is to relocate its treasury business from Yorkshire to London next year, and will be looking to recruit a further 100 staff. 04-Dec-1997 Halifax is looking to spend its £3.5bn of surplus capital on acquisitions, and wants to diversify further into consumer credit and insurance. 22-Aug-1997 Halifax building society has won the backing of its members to convert into a bank, following a vote which showed 97% approval. 25-Feb-1997 Halifax building society has announced its flotation plans, which will see it transform into a bank in June with a value of up to £12bn. 11-Jan-1997 Halifax Building Society has linked up with Churchill Insurance Company to start offering car insurance. 02-Dec-1996 Halifax Building Society is linking up with Churchill Insurance in its first move into motor insurance, and aims to sell policies to 250,000 of its 17m customers. 14-Aug-1996 Halifax Building Society is to cut 1,200 jobs at its head offices in West Yorkshire following its acquisition of Leeds Permanent, but expects to create 1,200 jobs by expanding into insurance and telephone banking. 24-Jul-1996 Halifax Building Society is said to be negotiating a deal to sell Bupa medical insurance policies through its high street branches. 24-Jun-1996 Halifax Building Society is buying 33 estate agency offices from the Alliance & Leicester for undisclosed terms. 26-Apr-1996 Halifax Building Society has bought Banque Paribas' £340m UK residential mortgage business. 20-Apr-1996 Halifax Building Society has indicated it may make more acquisitions after it is floated next year, possibly to achieve economies of scale or to move into new areas such as general insurance. 27-Mar-1996 Halifax is acquiring Clerical Medical, the life assurer, for £800m, which should enable it to use independent advisers for the sale of pensions, life assurance and investments. 26-Mar-1996 Halifax Building Society is to close 120 high street branches, leaving it with just under 1000, following its merger with Leeds Permanent. 22-Feb-1996 Halifax Building Society plans to form an insurance service company with household policies being underwritten by Royal Insurance, thus ending its 100-year relationship with Sun Alliance. 01-Feb-1996 Halifax Building Society is forecasting a 2% recovery in house prices in 1996 in its annual housing market paper. 27-Dec-1995
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