As Halifax is rebranded as Lloyds and the name leaves the high street forever, the Mirror takes a look at what came next for the bank's most iconic ambassador, Howard Brown14:44, 01 Jul 2026After 173 years on the British High Street, Halifax is set to vanish, with Lloyds taking over the once iconic brand - but the memories live on.‌Owner Lloyds Banking Group has announced that Halifax branches will be rebranded to Lloyds over the course of 2027, with the Halifax brand stopping new account openings. This will no doubt come as a shock to many customers, who can still remember the days when Halifax dominated TV ad breaks back in the '00s, with their catchy riffs and, of course, iconic ambassador, Howard Brown.‌But how is Howard faring now that the fortunes of Halifax have taken a significant turn? Here, the Mirror takes a look.‌Cast your memories back to the year 2000. A then-34-year-old Howard Brown was working at a branch of Halifax in the West Midlands and had dreams of being promoted to management.On a whim, he auditioned for one of the bank's TV adverts - and was shocked to find out he'd got the part. Whoever it was who decided Howard was the man to be the face of the national banking chain certainly earned their pay that day.‌When he went to film the advert, Howard was told to bring just a suit, a tie, and his passport. He didn't know his whole life was about to change.Howard, now 59, first hit our screens on Boxing Day 2000, when the whole nation saw him booging to a parody of Tom Jones' hit Sexbomb, before being magically transported to a farm, where he sang to a fish - obviously - and continued to have an all-round great time. This was before YouTube or TikTok, but the advert still managed to become a massive viral hit.‌Howard’s life changed irreversibly, and his face was soon one of the most recognisable in the country. Speaking previously with the Mirror, Howard recalled: "I went out as normal for lunch and sat in this little pub. I was having a coffee, and I saw a young lady come in with a pram."She did a double-take, looked at me, looked away, and then slowly reversed and stopped in front of my table. Then she said: ‘You’re him’. I realised at that stage that people had already started to recognise me. Everywhere I went, people would start to sing to me."‌Follow-ups also featuring Howard were even more successful, with shouts of "Who gives you extra!" echoing around beer gardens, school playgrounds, and high streets the length and breadth of the UK. Howard even appeared as himself in the 2003 Christmas Special episode of The Office.And as his face became more and more well known, it became clear that Howard's plan to return to a quiet life at the Sheldon branch of Halifax wasn't going to be possible.He remembered: "My first attempt to go back to the branch was in February. We must have had 400 people waiting outside - I had to sneak around the back and climb over the fence. We tried to open, but after 20 minutes we had to close it, there were too many people."‌But despite becoming one of the most recognised faces in Britain, Howard never took anything for granted. He shared: “I thought, ‘I need to continue to be me and keep my feet firmly on the ground’. You don’t let it change you.“I met some great people over the years, but I always kept the same circle of friends.”‌But after the financial crisis in 2009, big banks started to scale back expenses as the eyes of the world began to scrutinise how they operated.It meant the end of big budget adverts starring everyone’s favourite Halifax worker - but Howard continued to appear in smaller videos for the bank that were circulated online. He took up a role in the bank's public relations team before leaving the company entirely in 2011.‌He remained in demand with offers pouring into his agent from different banks - including RBS and Ulster Bank- and also tried his hand at musical theatre, starring in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as Adam Pontipee.Howard also kept up his TV appearances, appearing in a Hotels.com advert in 2017, starring in a Christmas special of The Office and even popping up on Channel 4's First Dates. More recently, Howard has partnered with savings app Nude, which encourages young people to get saving to buy their first home without help from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’.And in 2022, Howard hit headlines once again - but this time for a very different reason when he controversially blasted bosses at the Halifax for including pronouns on employees name badges.‌“I think it’s disgraceful," he said. "It’s a service industry – you should leave politics to the politicians. They’ve got this one wrong."Howard even went so far as to release a song railing against the diversity initiative, named What Happened? But, with lyrics such as "Why do you hector me with your identity?" and "Is there a new pronoun every day?", the track was labelled as cringe and left many listeners confused when it was released in 2023.The bank, however, defended its policy. At the time, a spokesperson told Pink News: "We want to create a safe and accepting environment that opens the conversation around gender identity. We care about our customers’ and colleagues’ individual preferences, so, for us, it’s a very simple solution to accidental misgendering."Article continues belowDo you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com