Halifax Bank ‘will be largely immune’ to job losses

The group’s Halifax Bank subsidiary will be largely immune to the cuts as it intends to keep all of its 663 branches open.

Lloyds said it is too early to say where the 9,000 job cuts will fall but West Yorkshire is seen as one of the group’s key targets.

​​Halifax’s managing director David Nicholson said: “Halifax is in good shape. Roles will change but that doesn’t mean there will be job losses. We remain committed to retraining people.”

Lloyds has 5,000 staff in Halifax, more than 1,000 in Leeds and 500 in Sheffield.​

​Lloyds said that more than​ 10 million of its customers now bank online while five million use its mobile banking services.

The group​ saw a ​nine per cent​ fall in branch use last year as more people turned to the internet to carry out their day-to-day banking.

The closures spell an end to its commitment to be the “last bank in town” and represent around a tenth of its network of 2,000 sites.

Finance director George Culmer said of the pledge to keep branches open: “That was a specific commitment we made over the last planned period. We won’t be able to commit to that going forward.”

The group said it would target closures in town centres where it has more than one branch.

Rob MacGregor, national officer of the Unite union, said: “These are deeply unsettling times for Lloyds staff, who after days of speculation and leaks face yet another round of job cuts and a future of uncertainty.

“Job cuts of approximately 10 per cent could have unknown consequences on customer service and will put even more pressure on staff who have helped get the bank back on the right track.

Lloyds sets aside nearly £1bn for PPI: Business Page 16; Comment: Page 12.