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Bailed-out bank the Royal Bank of Scotland is spending tens of thousands of pounds on corporate entertaining at Wimbledon.
Customers will enjoy fine dining and champagne courtesy of the bank as they watch the tennis championships at the All England Club.
Players including British star Andy Murray will step on to the grass courts for the two-week tournament, which starts on Monday.
RBS is now more than 70% owned by the taxpayer after being hammered by the financial crisis.
It reported record UK losses in 2008 and tens of thousands of staff have lost their jobs.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the RBS corporate hospitality package for SW19 is costing up to £300,000.
An email leaked to the paper describes the bank's booking of an "entertainment suite" for more than 42 guests for each of the tournament's 13 days, at a cost of at least £19,500 a day. In addition, the bank will pay up to £100 for each Centre Court seat and £75 a head for lunch, according to the paper.
A spokeswoman for RBS was unable to confirm the costs but said the deal had been a long-standing agreement and pointed out that customers rather than staff would be attending.
She said: "We fully recognise that as we get our house in order we need to be seen to change the way we operate. We have cut our hospitality by 90% this year to recognise the reality of our situation. The cost of the Wimbledon event is already sunk in and contracted. We are using it to support our charity partners and customer relationships which are vital to our success."
Earlier this week, former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin bowed to public pressure and offered to hand back more than £210,000 a year of his controversial pension payout. The bank's disgraced ex-chief executive "volunteered" to reduce his pension payout from £555,000 to £342,500 a year.
RBS serves up Wimbledon hospitality - Yahoo! News UK
Customers will enjoy fine dining and champagne courtesy of the bank as they watch the tennis championships at the All England Club.
Players including British star Andy Murray will step on to the grass courts for the two-week tournament, which starts on Monday.
RBS is now more than 70% owned by the taxpayer after being hammered by the financial crisis.
It reported record UK losses in 2008 and tens of thousands of staff have lost their jobs.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the RBS corporate hospitality package for SW19 is costing up to £300,000.
An email leaked to the paper describes the bank's booking of an "entertainment suite" for more than 42 guests for each of the tournament's 13 days, at a cost of at least £19,500 a day. In addition, the bank will pay up to £100 for each Centre Court seat and £75 a head for lunch, according to the paper.
A spokeswoman for RBS was unable to confirm the costs but said the deal had been a long-standing agreement and pointed out that customers rather than staff would be attending.
She said: "We fully recognise that as we get our house in order we need to be seen to change the way we operate. We have cut our hospitality by 90% this year to recognise the reality of our situation. The cost of the Wimbledon event is already sunk in and contracted. We are using it to support our charity partners and customer relationships which are vital to our success."
Earlier this week, former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin bowed to public pressure and offered to hand back more than £210,000 a year of his controversial pension payout. The bank's disgraced ex-chief executive "volunteered" to reduce his pension payout from £555,000 to £342,500 a year.
RBS serves up Wimbledon hospitality - Yahoo! News UK
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