The closure of 44 Lloyds Bank and Halifax branches across England and Wales has been confirmed, bringing the group’s total for 2021 to 100.
Lloyds Banking Group has announced that 29 Lloyds Bank branches and 15 Halifax branches will shut their doors, with no compulsory redundancies.
Of the closures, over a third are branches situated in or around cities and large towns, with another site “very close by”.
In March and April this year, 56 branches were closed by the group while the sites announced today will shut between September and November.
Once these closures are complete the group will have 779 Lloyds Bank branches, 560 Halifax branches, alongside 184 Bank of Scotland branches.
Vim Maru, retail director for Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Today we’re announcing that 29 Lloyds Bank and 15 Halifax branches will be closing as, over the past five years, we’ve seen customers carry out significantly fewer transactions at these locations.
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“We’ve also seen our digital banking customers grow by over 4 million in five years, to almost 18 million, of which 13.6 million also choose to be active app users.
“This means that, like many businesses on the high street, we must change for a future where branches will be used in a different way, and visited less often.
“We’ll continue to invest in our high street presence, as this week we’re opening a new concept Bank of Scotland branch in Edinburgh, the only bank to take up residence in the new St James Quarter.
Read More Related Articles Racist abuse, vending machines and getting thrown out of school: Steven Bartlett’s journey to Dragons’ Den Read More Related Articles McDonald’s to create 20,000 jobs and open 50 UK restaurants“Importantly, we’ll continue to give our customers a choice in how they bank with branches sitting alongside telephone banking, online and mobile banking, our video appointment services, our cashback through local shops programme, our participation in the industry BankHUB cash initiative and 11,500 Post Offices, at which our customers can bank and access cash.”
Across all of the group’s branches, transactions have fallen 10% per annum in the five years to March 2020, and “significantly further” in the year since.
However, the decision has been described as “baffling” by Unite which “will deny our communities of essential services”.
Unite national officer, Caren Evans added: “The decision by Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) to further erode its presence within our communities is baffling.
“The closure of 44 more bank branches will deny our communities of essential services such as access to cash and experienced highly trained staff. A local ATM is not a suitable alternative to a staffed bank branch.
“In recent times LBG has spent significant resource to sell its message of ‘Helping Britain Recover’.
“Unite seriously question how this decision to walk away from local communities promotes this message at a time when the customers will rely on the financial services sector support more than ever.
Read More Related Articles Bid to oust Boohoo co-founder from board role seen off Read More Related Articles Didsbury Gin founders toast success after Dragons’ Den set them up for exciting future“Unite does not view the bank branch network as a disposable commodity and the union believes that the branch network has a value far beyond its immediate commerciality.
“Unite wants to see Lloyds Banking Group invest in the branch network and commit to a meaningful presence in our communities.”
