The Spanish-owned bank is set to close 95 branches with several more having hours shortened as 750 jobs are said to be on the line in a move being blamed on ‘customer behaviour’
A major UK bank has announced that 95 branches will close – with 750 jobs on the line. Santander will shut the branches this year, with 18 of the 444 remaining being turned into “counter free branches”.
Bosses have also confirmed that a further 36 branches will see hours reduced, leaving it with just 290 full-service branches. It also has five cafes, which are supposed to be co-working spaces.
Explaining the move, a spokesman for Santander UK said that it was being done due to changes in the way “customer behaviour has changed”.
They said: “We are ensuring that our branches remain fit for the future. Our new combination of full-service branches, alongside Work Cafés, counter-free branches and reduced hours branches, aims to provide the right balance between digital banking and face-to-face money management and guidance.
“As a business, we must move with customers and balance our investment across all the places where we interact with customers, to deliver the very best for them now and in the future.
“Closing a branch is always a very difficult decision and we spend a great deal of time assessing where and when we do this and how to minimise the impact it may have on our customers. “However, we believe that the introduction of our new Community Bankers and the exciting plans we have for our remaining network of 349 branches and Work Cafés, alongside the rapid and innovative improvements to our award-winning mobile banking app, will provide the right balance of digital banking and human interaction when required.”
Since 1986, a significant number of bank branches in the UK have closed. Data from the British Banking Association (BBA) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown that in 1986 there were 21,643 bank and building society branches in the UK, compared to 6,870 in 2024.
According to a Government report published earlier this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that the downward trend in the number of bank branches is likely to continue due to changes with technology and customer behaviour. It has also noted that banks have made savings from closing branches.
A spokesman said: “Banks are achieving cost savings from closing branches: our analysis of major UK retail banks showed that branch network costs for the six major banks fell by around 6% during the three-year period to 2017.”
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