NatWest UK, and it has a large network of over 960 branches and 3,400 cash machines across Great Britain and offers 24-hour "Actionline" telephone and online banking services. Today, it has more than 7.5 million personal customers and 850,000 small business accounts. In Ireland, it operates through its Ulster Bank subsidiary. In 2017, NatWest was awarded Best Banking App in the British Bank Awards. The bank's origins date back to 1658 with the foundation of Smith's Bank of Nottingham. The creation of the modern bank was announced in 1968, and National Westminster Bank Limited commenced trading on 1 January 1970, after
Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet (2 January 1652 – 25 January 1733) was a British merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1701 and 1733. He was a Governor of the Bank of England and was Lord Mayor of London in 1711. Caleb Heathcote is his brother. He belonged to an old Derbyshire family. He was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the eldest of eight sons of Gilbert Heathcote and his wife, Anne. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge, and went on to become a merchant in London. His trading ventures