Fresh blow to the High Street as NatWest warns of extra department closures
NatWest has revealed that much more department closures are on the playing cards as a senior govt mentioned it might not want ‘anything like’ its present quantity.
The feedback by the state-backed financial institution’s finance director Katie Murray will come as a contemporary blow to the High Street because it faces shedding extra native branches.
And it’s going to do little to win again sympathy for the financial institution’s management as they search to recuperate from the de-banking controversy that compelled boss Dame Alison Rose to step down.
Earlier this month it was revealed that Rose would lose £7.6million in payouts after the row over the closure of ex-Ukip chief Nigel Farage’s account, which resulted in her resignation earlier this 12 months.
NatWest stays 39 per cent owned by taxpayers after it was rescued – beneath its earlier identify of Royal Bank of Scotland – in the course of the monetary disaster.
Branch closures: NatWest stays 39% owned by taxpayers after it was rescued – beneath its earlier identify of Royal Bank of Scotland – in the course of the monetary disaster
Last week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed that the Government aimed to promote the shares to the general public in a bid to reignite the urge for food for investing that was beforehand seen within the Eighties.
Like most different lenders, NatWest has inflicted savage cuts on its department community in recent times.
Campaigners say this leaves aged and susceptible prospects, who battle to get grips with the expertise, within the lurch.
But yesterday, Murray indicated that there have been even cuts extra to return, telling the FT world banking summit: ‘Branches will always be important but we just don’t want something just like the quantity that we have now.’
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK charity director, mentioned: ‘The disappearance of face-to-face banking risks cutting a significant minority of the older population out of an essential service, making it difficult if not impossible for them to manage their money and maintain their independence.’
A NatWest spokesman mentioned: ‘We take our responsibility seriously to support the people who face challenges in moving online, so we are investing to provide them with support and alternatives that work for them.’
