FORM 6-K

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549


                            Report of Foreign Issuer

                      Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of

                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934

                           For the month of June 2003

                               ABBEY NATIONAL plc
                 (Translation of registrant's name into English)

                      Abbey National House, 2 Triton Square
                             London NW1 3AN, England
                    (Address of principal executive offices)



         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

                        Form 20-F ...X...   Form 40-F .......

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the
information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to
the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.

                            Yes .......        No ...X...

<PAGE>

                   Abbey National appoints Angus Porter as new
                         Customer Propositions Director

Abbey National plc announces today the appointment of Dr Angus Porter to the
Board as Customer Propositions Director, an Executive Director position. He
takes up his role on 1 July 2003. The Customer Propositions division aims to
improve significantly the Company's understanding of its customers, and to
design better propositions, products and services for them. It also encompasses
all advertising, marketing and brand activities across the Company.

Dr Porter will also chair the Customer Board at Abbey National which is
responsible for bringing together the activities of the Company's three
customer-facing divisions: Customer Propositions, Customer Sales and Customer
Operations to ensure that the Personal Financial Services business is
successful.1

Porter, 45, joins Abbey National from BT plc. He joined BT in 1999 as UK
Marketing Director, and in 2000 moved to the role of Managing Director, Consumer
Division, BT Retail. In the last three years, he has turned the division from
loss to profit, improved customer satisfaction and retention, and launched
successful new products such as BT Broadband and BT Together.

Prior to joining BT, Porter spent 14 years at Mars Confectionery, where his
roles included General Manager - Europe: Sugar Confection (1998 - 1999) and UK
Marketing Director (1994 - 1998). He also worked in sales and in research and
development.

Luqman Arnold, Chief Executive of Abbey National, said: "This new role on the
Board is right at the heart of our strategy of focusing solely on UK personal
financial services. We have promised to get much closer to our customers and
give better service, advice and choice. I am delighted that Angus has agreed to
take on this challenge. He has enormous talent and brings experience that is
extremely relevant to this role. He has a fantastic track record in delivering
business success by really focusing on what customers want, and has proved he
can do this on a huge scale as BT Retail has 21 million customers and a business
model which has both the complexity as well as pricing similarity to the retail
banking market."

Dr Angus Porter said: "Abbey National has set out to change the banking
landscape by really understanding and responding to customer needs - no mean
feat in a market where pretty much all the banks are disliked. This is a
marvellous opportunity for the Company to be truly different from the others -
and it has a great starting point, with a highly recognised brand and serving an
incredible one in four of the UK population. It's also a really exciting move
for me, and I'm greatly looking forward to being part of the re-energised Abbey
National."

Dr Angus Porter began his career with Plessey Research, where he was Principal
Research Scientist (1983 - 1985). This followed two years at Churchill College,
Cambridge as a Research Fellow (1981 - 1983). Dr Porter has an MA in natural
sciences, and a Ph.D in metallurgy from Jesus College, Cambridge.

He is a non-executive director of MyTravel Group plc, a Board member of Business
in the Community and the Wooburn Park Sports Association Limited, and a member
of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers Limited. Dr Porter is married
and lives in Buckinghamshire.

There are no matters requiring disclosure under Section 16.4 (b) of the FSA
Listing Rules.

Ends

Enquiries to:

Christina Mills
Head of Media Relations
020 775 64212
christina.mills@abbeynational.co.uk

Jon Burgess
Head of Investor Relations
Jonathan.burgess@abbeynational.co.uk

Matt Young
Media Relations
020 775 64232
matthew.young@abbeynational.co.uk

Notes to editors

1. The three customer-facing divisions and their directors are:
    Customer Propositions      Angus Porter
    Customer Sales             Mark Pain
    Customer Operations        Mac Millington

2. Photographs of Angus Porter are available at www.newscast.co.uk

3. A biography of Angus Porter is attached.


                                 Dr Angus Porter
               Customer Propositions Director, Abbey National plc


Dr Angus Porter joins Abbey National on 1 July 2003 as Customer Propositions
Director.

He is currently Managing Director of BT's UK Consumer Division, a role he has
held since 2000, and is a member of BT's Management Council. He joined the
company in 1999 as UK Marketing Director.

As Managing Director, Angus has been credited for turning the business into
profit, with revenues now in excess of (pound)5.5bn. He has been responsible for
several key initiatives including the launch of BT Together, the BT Answer 1571
messaging service and BT Broadband, a world-first broadband service, which has
enabled BT to hit its publicly declared target of 1 million broadband customers
by summer 2003.

Prior to working at BT, Angus spent fourteen years at Mars Confectionery
(1985-1999), where he held a number of roles in research and development,
manufacturing, sales, and marketing, including a four-year period as UK
Marketing Director (1994 - 1998). During this time, he was responsible for a
number of key innovations, including the launch of Celebrations, the UK's most
successful confectionery launch.

His last role with Mars was as European General Manager (1998-1999) where he
re-branded Opal Fruits as Starburst, opened a new factory in the Czech Republic,
and oversaw launches in a number of European markets.

He began his career with Plessey Research, where he was Principal Research
Scientist (1983-1985). This followed two years at Churchill College, Cambridge
as a Research Fellow (1981-1983).

Angus was appointed as a non-executive Director of MyTravel plc in February
2002. He is also a board member of Business in the Community, the Wooburn Park
Sports Association Limited and a member of the Incorporated Society of British
Advertisers Limited.

Angus was born in Zambia in 1957. His family returned to the UK in 1965 where he
attended Haywards Heath Grammar School and then Jesus College, Cambridge
achieving an M.A. in Natural Sciences and a Ph.D in Metallurgy.

Angus is married with three children and lives in Buckinghamshire.

<PAGE>

                                   SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

                                                     ABBEY NATIONAL plc


Date:    10 June 2003                       By  /s/ Jonathan Burgess
                                                --------------------------
                                                Jonathan Burgess
                                                Head of Investor Relations