Santander closing 111 bank branches across the UK, with 840 roles affected
Santander bank will close more than 100 braches across its UK network, affecting around 840 staff, it confirmed today.
The high street lender said it will shut 111 branches and is the latest bank to downsize its network, following similar moves from HSBC and TSB this year.
Meanwhile 5,000 office staff will be allowed to continue working from home after lockdown restrictions lift, with new arrangements combining remote work with “access to local collaboration spaces”.
It’s the latest UK firm to set out its future office working plans, following news from Nationwide this morning that 13,000 of its non-customer-facing staff can ditch the office commute permanently.
The changes include moving the bank’s London headquarters to Milton Keynes, where the bank is set to invest £150m in a new campus.
The bank said the majority of branches that will shut are within three miles of another Santander site.
Shares in Santander this afternoon were down 2.8 per cent to 242p.
Santander justified the closures as a reflection of changing consumer habits accelerated by the Covid pandemic lockdowns.
“Branch transactions fell by 33 per cent over the two years before the pandemic and declined by a
further 50 per cent in 2020. Mobile and online transactions have meanwhile been growing by 20 per cent each year, with almost two thirds of overall transactions now digital,” it said this morning.
Since 2015, more than 3,700 bank branches have closed in the UK across all major banks, with NatWest, HSBC and Barclays leading the charge.
Santander branches closing
- Ashford Church Road: 30 Church Road, Ashford TW15 2UY — 5 August 2021
- Balham High Road: 200 Balham High Road, London SW12 9DH — 24 June 2021
- Banstead High Street: 79 High Street, Banstead SM7 2NL — 1 July 2021
- Barking: 37 Station Parade, Barking IG11 8EB — 12 August 2021
- Beckenham: 212-214 High Street, Beckenham BR3 1EN — 12 August 2021
- Bethnal Green: 450 Bethnal Green Road, Bethnal Green E2 0HG — 15 July 2021
- Bishopsgate: 224 Bishopsgate, London City EC2M 4AN — 24 June 2021
- Camberwell: 34 Denmark Hill, Camberwell SE5 8RZ — 29 July 2021
- Catford: 162 Rushey Green, Catford SE6 4JT — 8 July 2021
- Chelsea Kings Road: 138 Kings Road, Chelsea SW3 4XB — 8 July 2021
- Chingford Old Church Road: 35 Old Church Road, Chingford E4 6SJ — 1 July 2021
- Chiswick: 336 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick W4 5TL — 15 July 2021
- Dalston: 86 Kingsland High Street, Dalston E8 2PG — 12 August 2021
- Finchley High Road: 760 High Road, Finchley N12 9QH — 24 June 2021
- Fulham: 421 North End Road, Fulham SW6 1NY — 5 August 2021
- Hanover Square: 14a Hanover Square, London W1S 1JL — 1 July 2021
- High Holborn: 306a High Holborn, London WC1V 7JZ — 8 July 2021
- Hounslow Bath Road: 388 Bath Road, Hounslow TW4 7HT — 15 July 2021
- Leatherhead: 2 High Street, Leatherhead KT22 8HT — 12 August 2021
- Leytonstone: 662 High Road, Leytonstone E11 3BD — 12 August 2021
- London Bridge: 9 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ — 15 July 2021
- Mill Hill: 45 The Broadway, Mill Hill NW7 3DJ — 15 July 2021
- New Malden: 132 High Street, New Malden KT3 4HY — 22 July 2021
- Norbury: 1424 London Road, Norbury SW16 4EP — 1 July 2021
- Pinner: 27 Bridge Street, Pinner HA5 3JW — 8 July 2021
- Putney: 88-90 Putney High Street, Putney SW15 1RB — 29 July 2021
- Shepherds Bush: 23 Shepherds Bush Green, London W12 8PH — 22 July 2021
- South Harrow: 285-287 Northolt Road, Harrow HA2 8JS — 22 July 2021
- Southgate: 6 Chase Side, Southgate N14 5NY — 22 July 2021
- Strand: 406 Strand, London WC2R 0NE — 24 June 2021
- Surbiton: 12 Victoria Road, Surbiton KT6 4JW — 29 July 2021
- Twickenham: 1 King Street, Twickenham TW1 3SD — 1 July 2021
- Upper Edmonton: 163 Fore Street, Upper Edmonton N18 2UX — 29 July 2021
- Wembley Preston Road: 223 Preston Road, Wembley HA9 8XD — 29 July 2021
- West Wickham: 30 High Street, West Wickham BR4 0SN — 15 July 2021
Adam Bishop, Santander’s head of branches, said: “We will provide every support to customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs.
“We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible”.
It is not yet known how many of the 840 affected branch staff can be redeployed elsewhere in the company’s network.
The news comes as Santander’s Spanish division acquired a $4.3bn portfolio from Indosuez Wealth Management just last week, which is expected to close later this year upon regulatory approval.
The deal would be executed through its private banking division, Banco Santander International (BSI), which manages €230bn in customer assets.