Santander says jobs are safe in branch closure programme

Santander’s purchase of Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley during the 2008 financial crisis came four years after it bought Abbey National and left it with multiple branches in some towns and cities.

Yesterday, the Spanish-owned bank, which is gearing up to spin off and float its British business next year, confirmed the closure of the 56 UK branches would take place by the end of June, but stressed that there will not be any job cuts.

The bank will also be opening 25 branches in towns and financial centres where it currently doesn’t have a presence, Santander said, as well as integrating 314 branches and offices acquired from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Last year, Santander agreed to buy 318 branches from RBS, but the integration of those has been delayed and they are not part of the branch closures. Although the original deal was for 318 branches, a Santander spokesman said it has been reduced to 314, as RBS is keeping four central London branches. As part of the RBS acquisition project, there are around 28 RBS branches in the Yorkshire region which will become Santander branches.

Santander said it is “still reviewing potential sites across the UK” for its additional 25 branches, and could not confirm yesterday whether any of these might be in Yorkshire. The bank employs 2,250 people in the Yorkshire region, where it currently has 99 Santander branches.

The news comes as Santander UK looks to shift its lending ration to increase its market share in business banking. The imminent completion of its acquisition of the RBS branches will significantly accelerate this, boosting its presence among small to medium-sized enterprises.

A Santander spokesman said: “Since integrating and re-branding Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley, Santander UK has been closely reviewing how its customers use the new enlarged branch network. Based on this analysis, Santander UK is consolidating some of its branches; only where our detailed, two-year research shows we can continue to provide the level of service needed to the local community. In doing so Santander is not leaving any town or financial centre in which it currently has a full service branch; and it is not making any redundancies.”

In Barnsley, the bank’s Eldon Street branch will close but the one on May Day Green will remain open. In Doncaster, there are two branches on Baxtergate. Number 16 will close, while number 25 will remain open, and Doncaster’s Main Street branch will also stay open. In Harrogate, the branch on Station Parade will close, while those on Cambridge Street and James Street will stay open, and in Pontefract, the bank’s Cornmarket branch will close, with its branches in Beastfair and Market Place remaining open.

Rotherham will see Santander’s branch at 3 Effingham Street shut, while the one at numbers 20-22 on the same street will remain open. Meanwhile, Wakefield, which currently has two Santander branches on Upper Kirkgate, will see number 24 shut and number four remain open. Its Westgate branch will also stay open.

And in York, Santander’s branches in Market Street on The University of York campus will stay open, as will the city’s Santander branch in High Ousegate. York’s Santander branch on Coppergate will be closing.

Santander said all the branches which have been identified for closure fulfil certain criteria: they are in towns and financial centres where it has multiple branches; the other branches in the town have capacity to service the additional customers with no detrimental impact; and, Santander can close the branches and absorb the workforce in to other branches and retail roles in the town.

[email protected]