The UK high streets are rapidly descending into banking deserts – as over 6,000 branches will shut before Christmas.
There was once a time when our town centres were booming. You could go into town, enjoy a spot of retail therapy and pop into your chosen bank to manage your money.
However, as we edge closer to the mid-2020s – the landscape of our highstreets couldn’t look anymore different. The UK is littered with boarded shop fronts that were once home to some big-name retailers and banks.
READ MORE: Major high street bank to close 36 branches and cut 250 jobs – see full list
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Not only have we seen store closure from the likes of Boots, WH Smith and Tesco, but it was just announced that TSB Bank will be closing 36 branches. This will cause at least 250 redundancies.
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And this recent blow continues to set a brutal precedent of the future of our highstreets. It will see millions of people stranded in banking deserts – which are areas of the UK without any open banks.
Since 2015, over 6,000 branches of banks have shut and that number will only continue to rise. It is thought that by Christmas over 33 parliamentary constituencies will be added to the list of dreaded banking deserts.
That includes London, where two constituencies made up of thousands of people, will not have access to a brick and mortar bank.
But, where are the current locations that have absolutely no open banks right now? Have a look below to see if your area is on the list…
Britain’s Banking Deserts:
- Sedgefield
- York Outer
- Bradford South
- Bury South
- Colne Valley
- Glasgow North East
- Wirral West
- Liverpool, West Derby
- Clywd South
- Stone
- Swansea East
- Rhondda
- Newport East
- Plymouth, Moor View
- East Worthing and Shoreham
- Clatham and Aylesford
- Reading West
- Dagenham and Rainham
- Erith and Thamesmead
- Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
- Mid Bedfordshire
- Penistone and Stockbridge
- Don Valley
- Nottingham East
- Sheffield, Hallam
- Mid Derbyshire
- North East Derbyshire
- St Helens North
- Bolton West
- Warrington, North
- Wentworth and Dearne
- Barnsley East
It is also to note that specific towns in these constituencies have also become banking deserts.
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The TSB Bank closures commenced at the start of September and will continue into 2025. A spokesman for the bank chain said: “The decision to close a branch is never taken lightly.
“But our customers are now doing most of their banking digitally, and we need to move to a better balance of digital and face-to-face services.
“We remain committed to a national branch network and through innovation and integration with video, telephone, digital, branch and other face-to-face services TSB customers have more ways to bank with us than ever before.”
TSB Bank are of course not the only high-street banking chain to take a hit as the public in general move towards digital banking.
Which? have tracked the numbers of the closures which show the rapid pace that banks are being boarded up.
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In May, it was reported the NatWest Group – that includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank – are at the top of the list with having closed 1,360 branches in the last nine years.
Closely behind is Barclays, who have decided to shut 1,216 locations since 2015 and the Lloyds Banking Group, consisting of of Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, have shut 1,146 sites.
The desert continues to grow across the UK and just months on from when the above numbers were initially released.
It was reported by us only last month that it is predicted another 400 branches will cease to exist by Christmas – and TSB Bank have already knocked 36 off that list.
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In just nine years over 6,000 highstreets branches closed their doors for good, and it appears that number will only continue to grow until Britain’s banking landscape will dry up for good.
We previously spoke to a retail expert about the future of the UK’s highstreets and the ‘vicious cycle of decline’ it is facing.
And the guru said that, with the retail and bank closures, that highstreets are now “mere echoes” of their former selves.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, Disha Daswaney explained: “After years of decline, hastened significantly by the pandemic, many UK town centres have become mere echoes of their former vibrancy.
“Those that have been too slow to adapt have failed across multiple categories. While these consumer shifts have been happening, there are also staggering inflation rates to consider, coupled with the cost of living crisis.”
What do you think about Britain’s banking desert crisis – have you been affected by this?