Howard Brown (Halifax Bank) facts for kids

Howard Brown, born around 1966, is a well-known British personality. He became famous for appearing in TV adverts for Halifax Bank. In these adverts, he often sang and danced, making him a familiar face to many. Before his TV fame, he worked in customer service and sales for HBOS plc, which included both Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank.

About Howard Brown

Howard Brown was born in Sheldon, a part of Birmingham, England. His family background is from Barbados.

His Time at Halifax Bank

Howard worked for the HBOS Group from 1994 to 2011. In 2000, he became the main star of Halifax Bank's advertising campaigns. This is when he started singing in most of the adverts, which made him very popular.

In June 2022, Halifax Bank announced a new policy. They said they would add pronouns to staff name tags. This decision caused some discussion on social media. Howard Brown shared his thoughts on the matter. He said he thought it was "disgraceful" and that businesses should not get involved in political topics.

Howard's Career in Music and TV

Appearing on "The Office"

In 2003, Howard Brown had a special role in the Christmas episode of the TV show The Office. He played himself alongside actor Ricky Gervais, who played the character David Brent. Howard also appeared with Paul "Bubble" Ferguson from Big Brother 2.

The three of them took part in a game show called Blind Date at a nightclub. This game was hosted by Mike McClean. Howard and Bubble seemed to get along better with the female contestant than David Brent did, which made Brent unhappy. After Howard sat down, the host shouted, "Who gives you extra?" The audience replied, "Who Who Who?" This was a fun reference to a Halifax advert. That advert used the song "Who Let the Dogs Out?" by the Baha Men. Interestingly, Howard didn't actually sing in that specific advert; he only appeared in a cartoon version of it.

Music and Other TV Roles

In 2004, the Bank of Scotland stopped using Howard in their adverts. This was because their customers did not like the style of the adverts as much.

In 2005, Howard released a song for charity. It was a cover of "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" by Barry White. The song was quite successful, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.

From April 2008, Howard no longer appeared in the main Halifax adverts. Instead, he took on a role in the company's public relations team. He left Halifax completely in 2011.

Howard made a brief return to advertising in 2017. He had a small role in an advert for Hotels.com.

In February 2020, Howard appeared on the TV show First Dates. The same episode was later shown and discussed on the TV show Gogglebox.

In February 2021, Howard was a special guest on the TV show Hypothetical during its third season.