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The Guardian - UK

Business

Mark Sweney

Santander to close 95 UK branches, putting 750 jobs at risk

Santander United Kingdom

Santander sign on a branch — Santander had said in January that it was not planning any permanent branch closures this year. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Santander is to close a fifth of its branches in the UK as part of an overhaul of its network, putting 750 jobs at risk.

The retail bank said it would shut 95 out of its 444 high street outlets, and reduce the services or hours at a further 50-plus branches, by June to “better serve the changing needs of customers”.

The lender, which said in January that it was not planning any permanent closures this year, said it was also changing 18 branches to become “counter-free” and a further 36 would operate reduced hours.

“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,” a spokesperson for Santander UK said. “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.”

The bank said that in places where branches were being shut it would provide new “community bankers” who would provide face-to-face support for customers. These community bankers will visit weekly, as well as attending local banking hubs.

The restructure will leave Santander with 349 branches in the UK. This will comprise 290 full-service branches, 36 with reduced hours and 18 counter-free, as well as five “Work Cafés”, a concept the bank said it was rolling out globally.

Work Cafés will provide a “hub for local communities and businesses” that includes co-working space, superfast wifi and event space, according to the bank.

Santander said there had been a “rapid movement” of customers shifting their banking online, with a 63% increase in digital transactions since 2019.

Since 2019, financial transactions completed in branches have reduced by 61% in the same period. More than a fifth of current accounts are now opened digitally and the bank has had a 56% increase in mobile banking users.

“As customer behaviour changes, we are ensuring that our branches remain fit for the future,” the spokesperson said. “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.”

Santander said that after the restructure, 93% of the UK population would continue to be within 10 miles of one of its branches.

After the branch closure announcement, Link, the cash access network, said it had recommended that 19 new banking hubs be set up.

Hubs, similar to a traditional branch but shared by multiple banks, have a counter serviced by Post Office employees where consumers can withdraw and deposit cash, make bill payments and carry out regular banking transactions. Banks work on a rotating basis, so staff from different providers are available on different days.

Santander’s announcement comes after Lloyds Banking Group said in January that it was closing a further 136 branches. The bank said it would close 61 Lloyds branches along with 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland sites, starting in May with completion of the closure plan in March next year.

Lloyds has about 932 branches but previously announced closures would take that figure down to 892 branches by the end of 2025. That includes 447 Lloyds Bank sites, 341 Halifax-branded branches and 104 Bank of Scotland locations.

The closures announced in January will bring the total down to 756 by the end of March next year.