All 320 Citizens Advice charities will rebrand and drop the word "bureau" from their name as part of a £1m modernisation over the next two years, the umbrella body for the network said today.

Citizens Advice, the central charity for the network of local advice organisations, said it had so far spent £215,000 on research and development for the rebrand. It will spend another £450,000 on direct support for local Citizens Advice charities and £300,000 on local implementation of its new identity in the 3,000 locations where local charities operate.

The charity said it had decided to drop the word bureau after discovering that service users did not identify with its connotations. It said they found the word old-fashioned and not relevant to them.

It has relaunched its digital services to make them easier for access through mobiles and tablets, after discovering that half of all visits came from those devices.

It has also redeveloped its technology, its colours and its fonts to make web access easier for people who use English as a second language, and for people with disabilities.

The charity said it was modernising its service in order to ensure it remained relevant to users.

It said it intended the "refreshed visual identity" to reflect both its modernised service and its heritage.

It said the rebrand was part of an "extensive modernisation programme" to make the service more relevant to clients and advisers.

It said research showed that refreshing the brand increased the likelihood of people approaching it for help in future by as much as 9 per cent.

It said the refreshed brand created a stronger identity, helped to communicate complex messages simply, and retained trust and recognition for its service.

The historical blue-and-yellow CAB logo has been changed to a speech bubble to “convey a more personable, approachable tone and identity”, the charity said.

Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Our brand refresh is in line with how we are modernising our services to respond to changing needs and help more people.

"It’s really important that people can get the help they need whether that’s face to face, online or over the phone. Our website has changed to make it easier and quicker for the millions of people who visit our site each year, including those who visit the site from mobile phones and tablets which makes up half of our visits.
 
“This is the first step in introducing the refreshed brand gradually across the service over the next two years so that it’s cost effective and doesn’t distract from our advice. 

"Research showed that refreshing our brand would increase the likelihood of people coming to us for help in the future, meaning we can make sure more people get the advice they need.”