£9m BETRAYAL FULL STORY PAGES 4&5
Bank’s big sell-off will only make HALF of what they paid in bonuses this year.. and less than cost of Six Nations deal
RBS will make less than £9million from selling off dozens of lifeline branches – just half what they paid in bonuses to executives this year.
A Sunday Mail probe has found the cash likely to be raised is around 50 per cent of the £16million paid in perks to bosses, including £1.2million for retail chief Les Matheson.
A Sunday Mail investigation today uncovers the quick buck which will be made by getting rid of vital branches serving communities across Scotland.
We can today reveal that the 62 buildings to be closed will make just £ 8.7million – a drop in the ocean for the bank bailed out by taxpayers nine years ago.
The figures behind the closure programme have been kept secret by RBS since they announced they were axing the branches nine days ago.
But the bank, who last week launched a blitz promoting mobile and phone banking, paid executives a bonus of £16million this year– almost double the money which will be raised by selling the branches.
It included £ 1.2million for head of retail banking Les Matheson, the man in charge of the high street operation.
The property sales figure is also dwarfed by RBS’s huge sponsorship deals for events such as rugby’s Six Nations, which will cost an estimated £11million next year.
The bank are still 72 per cent owned by the taxpayer.
We commissioned William McVicar surveyors to assess the value of every property in the sell-offs based on recent auction prices and rateable values.
Chief surveyor Bill McVicar said: “Working from the rateable value of each of the 49 branches, I’ve calculated an indicative value of £8.7million.
“Factors such as demand and whether a branch was in a listed building could alter the actual figure achieved.
“There are many variables but, in my professional opinion, £ 8.7million is a reasonable estimate for the properties.”
RBS will also make savings on rents in their leased properties and by shedding jobs.
They will axe 158 posts north of the Border, with 680 positions going across the UK, where a total of 259 branches are closing.
Unions, pol it icians and business leaders yesterday renewed calls for a complete rethink, warning of the impact on families, communities and Scottish high streets.
Unite, who represent workers at the bank, say their research into RBS accounts shows the branch sales could yield about 33 per cent of what the bank paid to their senior managers last year.
Mar y Alexander, Unite’s deputy Scottish secretary, said: “We have looked at the books. In 2016, RBS paid their directors and top executives £23.4million in salaries, bonuses and share options. “Nice work if you can get it. “So now, for a sell-off that will bring in less than a third of what those fat cats are taking home every year, they are wreaking havoc across Scotland.
“RBS – the bank for wrecking communities, wrecking local businesses and slaughtering vital jobs. Who are these people? Scotland needs to stand up and say, ‘ No.’”
The estimates show the branch in Airdrie could be the most lucrative, with a potential value of £ 511,750. Other branches at the top end of the estimation include Dyce, valued at £491,625, and Alloa at £ 405,375.
At the other end of the scale, the property in remote Tongue, in Sutherland, is valued at just £ 37,375.
But shutting that branch will leave villagers – and those from miles around who use it – without a bank or even a cash point.
Their nearest ATM will be almost 30 miles away in Durness, while the closest alternative bank will be 43 miles away in Thurso.
Bannockburn in Stirlingshire wil l be left bankless, whi le customers in Gretna will have to travel across the Border to England to use a bank or face a 50-mile round trip to Dumfries.
The closures – set for next year – will leave 13 towns and villages with no bank at all.
Business leaders have warned that the mass closures could be the final nail in the coffin for many businesses al ready strug g l ing to sur v ive in Scotland’s towns and villages.
Stuart Mackinnon, of the Scottish Federation of Small Businesses, said the decision to shut the branches could destroy efforts to inject money into the areas.
He said: “We know these branch closures are going to leave a hole in Scottish high streets, affecting footfall for businesses as well as making it more difficult to run an enterprise in many parts of Scotland.
“You only have to walk around many Scottish towns to see an awful lot of empty banks – and it is difficult to bring these buildings back into use.
“When so many people are working hard to breathe life into high streets, closing branches will undermine these efforts.
“RBS need to make decisions
to ensure their business is viable. But the way to do that is to react to what your customers want – and many customers still want a local branch.
“So where branch closures might yield some short- term savings, the question is over the long-term damage they might be doing to their customers, including local businesses.”
The Scottish Government have condemned the closures, with Bus ines s Mini s ter Paul Wheelhouse calling it a “body blow for our high streets”.
Unite have warned the bank’s plans to shut more than a third of their Scottish branches will lead to “social catastrophe”.
The union last week called on the Scottish Government to prevent the closures.
Regulatory powers over banking remain reserved to Westminster.
But Wheelhouse said he would be seeking to discuss with Unite what pressure they could jointly put on Westminster “to use its position to act in the interests of customers, communities and businesses that will be affected by branch closures”.
SNP MSP Alasdair Allan said: “RBS are majority owned by the UK taxpayer and yet they seem to have taken no account of the public interest in these closures.
“Taxpayers in towns and vil lages across Scotland helped save RBS and they deserve a much better return on their investment.
“Safeguarding the vital local branch network would be a good start.
“These savings are a drop in the ocean for a company as big as RBS. They should think again and help rebui ld trust by admitting they made a mistake.”
Lib Dem MP Chr ist ine Jardine MP said: “The closures slaughtering vital jobs will devastate the footfall in highgh streets across Scotland.
“The UK Government needd to assert their rights as shareholderder in RBS to secure a better futureure for Scotland’s towns.
“The bank’s directors needd to use their talents to develop localcal branches not cut them.”
A Scottish Tory spokesmanan said: “RBS need to consider theireir priorities.
People in local communitiesies don’t buy the argument that RBSBS need to close branches, whileile they can find fortunes to sponsorsor major sporting events.”
NatWest – a subsidiary of RBSBS – will sponsor the Six Nationss in 2018 in a deal worth around £11million.
The UK Treasury insist that they do not interfere with commercial decisions, despite their share in RBS.
R B S , wh o received a Government ba i lout of £45billion after the 2007-8 crash, declined to comment.