Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG warned of further potential job cuts as it hiked cost savings from the Virgin Money takeover and revealed plans to call time on its 175-year-old brands within two years.

The group said it was rolling out further automation within its branches and operations under plans to increase annual cost savings by another £50 million to £200m by 2022.

CYBG warned that the extra cost savings could lead to further potential job losses on top of around 1,500 already set to go as a result of the Virgin Money deal.

It came as CYBG also said it will fire the starting gun on its rebrand to Virgin Money this year, starting with digital banking arm B, which will complete by next June.

READ MORE: Jobs at risk as Clydesdale swings axe on branches

This will be rolled out to Yorkshire Bank in 2019 and Clydesdale in 2020, with the entire business rebranded as Virgin Money by the end of 2021.

The wider CYBG holding company will change its name to Virgin Money by the end of this year.

On the cost savings, a spokesman said the additional £50m is likely to come from a further push towards automation and its technology transformation.

He said: "It might include some further role reductions and automation in the branch network and other operational areas.

"We will continue to work through the details and will inform our colleagues first of any implications."

The group has already warned that around 16% of the combined workforce - about 1,500 jobs - will go following the Virgin Money deal, although some of these are expected to be lost through natural staff turnover.

It has so far said around a dozen of branches will close, but is planning to roll out more automation and self-service machines in its network.

CYBG boss David Duffy said the decision to axe the Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank brands was "not an easy one".

It will bring to an end more than 175 years of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank brands in Scotland and the North of England.

Mr Duffy said: "Both brands are a by-word for reliability and trust and we understand the emotional attachment customers and local communities have towards them."

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has revealed a sharp drop in UK sales as Brexit uncertainty continues to take its toll on business travel.

The group said like-for-like UK accommodation sales dropped 4.6 per cent in its first quarter, while revenue per room - a key measure for hotel firms - tumbled 6.3%.

The firm - which last year sold its Costa Coffee business to Coca-Cola in a £3.9 billion deal - said UK like-for-like food and drinks sales also fell, down 2.1% in the quarter.

It warned that hotel demand in the regional business market - where most Premier Inns are located - was being knocked in particular by the Brexit uncertainty, while it is also seeing rising costs.

Its first quarter update showed like-for-like sales in the London market dropped 4.2%, but the regional business saw a 4.7% decline.

It said while forward bookings look positive, "caution remains on the UK hotel environment given ongoing political uncertainty and the impact this has on business confidence".

Shares in the group dropped more than 1% after the gloomy update.

Alison Brittain, chief executive of Whitbread, said: "We have delivered a resilient performance in the first quarter despite more challenging market conditions and we continue to make good progress with our efficiency programme, which is helping to partially offset another year of high industry cost inflation."

She added: "Whilst we are cautious about short-term market conditions, we are confident in our plans given the significant growth opportunities in the UK and internationally."

An American billionaire has given Oxford University £150 million, one of the largest donations in its history, for a new institute that will explore the ethics of artificial intelligence.

The gift has been made by Stephen A Schwarzman, the chief executive and co-founder of US investment and private equity firm Blackstone.

A centre named after the philanthropist will house all of the university's humanities subjects for the first time and is expected to open in 2024.

It will also be home to Oxford University's new Institute for Ethics in AI which will explore the questions affecting the workplace and society.