The Green Flag Group name has been consigned to the dustbin.

The Pudsey insurance and motoring assistance group is now called UKI Partnerships. The rebranding move follows a restructuring programme at Direct Line.

Insurance and financial services firm Direct Line, which is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, acquired the Green Flag Group in 1999 from US travel and real-estate firm Cendant.

The group has changed its name in an effort to boost business by improving services and increasing operational efficiencies.

UKI, which is a division of the Direct Line Group, was established in March 2000.

It was set up to sell insurance and motoring assistance products to customers on behalf of hundreds of partner clients, including Tesco, Vauxhall and Churchill Insurance.

UKI Partnerships will continue to market the Green Flag Motoring Assistance brand.

Chris Moat, UKI's managing director, said: "As a dedicated partnership business, we have experienced tremendous growth across key sectors and formed significant relations with major partners.

"We will continue to grow our successful partnership business with focus on rapid business growth through managing relations with existing partners, winning new business and reinforcing our position as a partner of choice.

"We fully intend to remain a key player in forming partnership insurance schemes.

"The change of name provides an opportunity to strengthen our focus on the Green Flag Motoring Assistance brand and eliminate some of the confusion, which has arisen in the past."

UKI Partnerships has more than eight million customers.