Yorkshire Building Society announces branch closures and job losses

The closures will hit branches in Batley, Holmfirth, Lindley in HuddersfieldHuddersfield, Penistone, Slaithwaite and South Elmsall. It proposes closing all six Yorkshire branches in February.

In total, YBS is closing 12 UK branches.

A spokesperson said: “A total of 152 colleagues have been impacted as a result of the proposed changes announced today. We are hoping to minimise job losses by redeploying about 20 per cent of impacted colleagues to other roles within the society.

“We are committed to supporting all colleagues impacted by these changes and will be working closely with these colleagues to provide help with identifying further opportunities that may enable them to remain with the society, or find a new role outside of the business.

“We are actively looking to retain as many colleagues as possible in addition to providing a range of both external and internal support, including access to a careers portal, an employee assistance helpline and other online resources.”

YBS said it is reducing its high street network in areas where it is highly concentrated. The society said South Elmsall has four other YBS branches and agencies within nine miles and its next nearest branch is less than seven miles away in Ropergate, Pontefract.

It said the proposed changes to its high street network are designed to improve value for its members by delivering greater efficiency.

The society is planning to reshape and rebalance its national branch network to deliver "good value to its membership as a whole".

YBS said the closures and redundancies are not related to Covid-19.

The spokesperson said: “These proposals have not been influenced by the short term changes in customer behaviour we’ve seen as a result of Covid-19.

“They’re being made in line with longer term considerations and trends in the way our customers want to do business with us.

“We understand some customers will be disappointed, but we have carried out extensive research, analysis and considerations, taking into account long-term customer behaviour across our branch network and other channels, before making these proposals.”

The proposals also involve discontinuing the society’s face-to-face mortgage advice available in branches, which has been declining in popularity for the past five years. YBS said that just 5 per cent of the society’s mortgage applications were made through this channel at the start of this year with none made at South Elmsall.

Mortgage advice will be given by fully-qualified mortgage advisers on the telephone, which the society said is an increasingly popular channel with customers.

It said the proposals will enable customers to access high street services whilst ensuring members’ money is used in a more cost effective way. Over the longer term, it will look to expand its network in new towns and cities where there is customer demand but where the society currently has no presence.

Gary Fowler, director of retail distribution at Yorkshire Building Society Group, said: “We are a strong and financially sustainable mutual which members have trusted with their money for more than 150 years. We have evolved in that time from a small local building society into a secure and reliable contemporary provider that exclusively focuses on mortgages and savings, serving more than three million people across the UK.

“In 2019 we saw a 6 per cent fall in transaction levels in our branches. We are also seeing lower footfall across branches and declining face-to-face mortgage applications, which now represent just 5 per cent of all our customer mortgage applications nationally.

“Whilst I know this is difficult for South Elmsall, like all businesses, to remain relevant and competitive in today’s market, we must continue to change. We will be doing our level best to support our customers’ transition to their nearest location, whilst working with our people who are at risk of losing their roles.”