Virgin launches UK bank shake-up

London - Virgin Money, part of Richard Branson's Virgin empire, launched a shake-up of Britain's troubled retail banking market on Friday with the purchase of a private regional lender.

Virgin said it had agreed to buy Church House Trust for £12.28m ($19.4m) and would use the bank to offer savings and mortgage products to customers under the Virgin Money brand.

"The Church House Trust business offers us a strong platform for growth," Branson said in a statement announcing the deal.

"Virgin Money aims to bring simplicity to the UK banking market which has traditionally been a complex sector," he added.

- AFP