UKAR was established in 2010 to manage the Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock assets acquired during the financial crisis. After selling the retail franchises of Bradford & Bingley to Abbey National and Northern Rock to Virgin Money, a large proportion of the mortgages and other loan assets were sold in a series of transactions between 2014 and 2021, raising proceeds of c.£44 billion for the exchequer. The last transaction involved the sale of all remaining mortgage assets and the corporate entities of Bradford & Bingley and NRAM Limited for around £5 billion, ending the government’s ownership of these assets. UKGI worked with both UKAR and HM Treasury throughout, and played a pivotal role in providing expertise to help devise and implement sale strategies that delivered the government’s objectives and achieved value for money.
UKAR remains under government ownership. It operates as a ResiCo without any employees, and the work is outsourced to PwC and overseen by the UKAR Board. Its goal is to resolve the remaining legacy matters efficiently, paving the way for the company’s timely dissolution. UKGI continues to act as shareholder on behalf of HM Treasury, provides a Non-Executive Director on the Board, and now fulfils the company secretariat role.