Santander has announced plans to reshape its branch network and close 140 branches in response to changes in how customers are choosing to carry out their banking. The bank’s future branch network will be made up of a combination of larger branches offering improved community facilities to support local businesses and customers, and smaller branches using the latest technology to offer customers more convenient access to banking services. Santander has consulted its trade unions on the proposed changes and will seek to find alternative roles for the 1,270 colleagues affected wherever possible. The company expects to be able to redeploy around a third of those affected and will be closely supporting colleagues over the coming weeks as the consultation process continues.
Santander will support customers of closing branches to find other ways to bank that best suit their needs, including individual help to find alternative Santander branches and access digital, telephone and Post Office banking services. Santander will retain a nationwide network of 614 branches following the proposed changes. All Santander current and business account holders can also bank using one of over 11,000 Post Office branches across the UK.
In order to deliver a branch network for the future, 100 Santander branches will be refurbished over the next two years through an investment of €63.5m (£55m). The refurbishments will include a range of changes with a focus on personal service, convenience and community engagement.
Susan Allen, Head of Retail and Business Banking, said: "The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity. We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible. We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.
