Four HSBC branches in Bristol will close as part of a move by the firm that will see 114 of its high street branches across the UK shut from April next year. The firm says it is a result of customer numbers dropping significantly since the pandemic.
The decision comes as the number of people using their stores has fallen by 65 per cent in five years. In and around Bristol, the Downend branch will close first in April, followed by the bank in Filton in May. In July, HSBC's Portishead site will go, and finally, Westbury-on-Trym will shut down in August. A full service branch will remain in the city centre at Cabot Circus, and a digital service branch is set to continue in Kingswood.
The banking giant has said that it plans to invest tens of millions of pounds in updating and improving its remaining branch network, which will total 327 after the new wave of closures. Hull Live reports that HSBC has stressed it hopes to speak to all staff at the affected branches and redeploy them where possible to other roles within the company, either to other locations or to a different position. However, the group estimates around 100 of its employees may leave the bank.
Read More: 1,300 jobs at risk as Morrisons says it will close 132 McColl's shops
Explaining the closures, Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s managing director of UK distribution, said: “People are changing the way they bank, and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning. Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us.
“The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we’ve invested heavily in our ‘post-closure’ strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking.”
The decline in customers visiting bricks and mortar banks has accelerated so much since the Covid pandemic that HSBC reports some of those closing serve fewer than 250 people a week. According to the Mirror, 97.5 per cent of all HSBC's banking transactions now take place online.
Read on for the full list of all sites due to be axed, as reported by Devon Live, and when they will shut (South West branches in bold):
April
- Blandford Forum 18/04/2023
- Bristol Downend 25/04/2023
- Bexhill on Sea 18/04/2023
- Leominster 25/04/2023
- Abergavenny 18/04/2023
- Market Bosworth 25/04/2023
- Cromer 18/04/2023
- Alton 25/04/2023
- St Ives 18/04/2023
- Shaftesbury 25/04/2023
- St Austell 18/04/2023
May
- Wilmslow 02/05/2023
- Stamford 16/05/2023
- Whitley Bay 02/05/2023
- Whitby 16/05/2023
- Coleraine 02/05/2023
- Bridport 23/05/2023
- Bideford 02/05/2023
- Hove 23/05/2023
- Gainsborough 02/05/2023
- Fakenham 23/05/2023
- Launceston 02/05/2023
- Sudbury 23/05/2023
- Arnold 09/05/2023
- Liskeard 23/05/2023
- Didcot 09/05/2023
- Bristol Filton 30/05/2023
- Brecon 09/05/2023
- Dundee 30/05/2023
- Minehead 09/05/2023
- Waltham Cross 30/05/2023
- Dover 09/05/2023 11
- Hinckley Road 30/05/2023
- Halesowen 16/05/2023
- Market Harborough 30/05/2023
- Stroud 16/05/2023
- Stourport on Severn 30/05/2023
- Brighouse 16/05/2023
June
- Stirling 06/06/2023
- Twickenham 20/06/2023
- Pocklington 06/06/2023
- Ross on Wye 20/06/2023
- Chepstow 06/06/2023
- Hertford 20/06/2023
- Knutsford 06/06/2023
- Wells 20/06/2023
- Frome 06/06/2023
- Bicester 20/06/2023
- Portadown 06/06/2023
- Oakham 20/06/2023
- Penarth 13/06/2023
- New Milton 27/06/2023
- Ilkley 13/06/2023
- Lewes 27/06/2023
- South Shields 13/06/2023
- Pontypool 27/06/2023
- Skipton 13/06/2023
- Beccles 27/06/2023
- Honiton 13/06/2023
- St Neots 27/06/2023
- Sleaford 13/06/2023
- Wadebridge 27/06/2023
July
- Portishead 04/07/2023
- Horsforth 18/07/2023
- Droitwich 04/07/2023
- Gosforth 18/07/2023
- Leatherhead 04/07/2023
- Harpenden 18/07/2023
- Palmers Green 04/07/2023
- Bognor Regis 18/07/2023
- Coalville 04/07/2023
- Marlow 18/07/2023
- Park Gate Southampton 11/07/2023
- Christchurch 25/07/2023
- Wetherby 11/07/2023
- Seaford 25/07/2023
- Port Talbot 11/07/2023
- Blackwood 25/07/2023
- Kingswinford 11/07/2023
- Norwich Mile Cross 25/07/2023
- Long Eaton 11/07/2023
- Ripley 25/07/2023
- Bromborough 18/07/2023
- Tonbridge 25/07/2023
August
- Bristol Westbury on Trym 01/08/2023
- Bethnal Green 15/08/2023
- Ormskirk 01/08/2023
- Hornchurch 15/08/2023
- Putney 01/08/2023
- Colwyn Bay 15/08/2023
- Ashton under Lyne 01/08/2023
- Dorchester 22/08/2023
- Kenilworth 01/08/2023
- Morley 22/08/2023
- Reigate 08/08/2023
- Wymondham 22/08/2023
- North Finchley 08/08/2023
- Ryde 22/08/2023
- Cirencester 08/08/2023
- Windsor 22/08/2023
- Henley on Thames 08/08/2023
- Cardiff Rhyd y Penau 29/08/2023
- Denbigh 08/08/2023
- Leighton Buzzard 29/08/2023
- 122 Finchley Road 15/08/2023
- Eastwood 29/08/2023
- Chippenham 15/08/2023
Branches that will close with no set date
- Oxted
- Hythe
- Epworth
- Cowbridge
- Holsworthy
- Settle
- Tenby
Branch refurbishments planned for 2023
- Bournemouth Middlesbrough
- Liverpool Lord St Sheffield
- Bishopsgate Guildford
- Baker St Oxford
- Leicester Lincoln
- Walsall Telford
- Portsmouth Belfast
- Doncaster Harrow
- Southampton Cardiff Queen St
- Hull Peterborough
Read More:
Growing number of children experiencing food poverty, new study shows
Novice detectorist finds 'sweet wrapper' in mud that turns out to be £38k medieval ring
Average first-time buyer will take seven-and-a-half years to save for house deposit
Hyperoptic permanently reduces social broadband tariff to £20 a month
Grab a free drink when you visit Bristol's Instagrammable new bar
