Clydesdale Bank to shut Fife branches.

Angus, the Mearns and Fife among areas affected

Clydesdale Bank yesterday announced six branches in Fife, Angus and the Mearns will be among 40 slashed across the UK this year.

Sister business Yorkshire Bank is to close another 39 branches, according to one union.

Clydesdale said it will close branches in Brechin, Forfar and Stonehaven in Angus and the Mearns, along with Leven, Rosyth and South Queensferry in Fife.

Around 400 Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group staff are believed to be at risk of redundancy.

Angus North and Mearns SNP MSP Mairi Evans called the news “another blow to rural areas”.

The lender, the roots of which can be traced to Glasgow in 1838, was floated for £1.6 billion on the London Stock Exchange in February 2016.

Finance chiefs say the number of customers using bank branches for dayto-day transactions in the UK has fallen by a third across the industry.

Customer banking director Gavin Opperman said: “While the decision to close any branch is never an easy one, it is important that we, in line with other banks operating in the UK market, continue to respond to changes in the way customers want to bank with us.”

Unite the union’s national officer Rob MacGregor said: “(We are) clear that the closure of a third of the bank’s branches will not only be concerning for staff but the local communities which will see their bank branch close.

“This cost-cutting plan leaves customers with less choice for local banking.”

Posters will be placed in affected branches and letters sent to customers at least 12 weeks before any closures.

A Clydesdale spokesman said: “It is the bank’s intention to try to find roles for frontline branch staff either within other branches or elsewhere in the bank, wherever possible.

“However, there will inevitably be employee number reductions as a result of these changes.”

Elsewhere in Scotland, the Airdrie Savings Bank formally announced its closure.

Airdrie and Shotts MSP Alex Neil said: “The Airdrie Savings Bank has been an institution for 182 years.

“It has served the people of Lanarkshire well for all that time. After the financial crash of 2008 it was probably for a while one of the few viable banks left in Britain.” (See also page 34).

The Clydesdale branches closing, with date, and nearest branch remaining open for customers — Brechin, May 16, Montrose; Forfar, June 1, Dundee; Stonehaven, May 15, Aberdeen; Leven, June 2, Glenrothes; Rosyth, June 16, Dunfermline; South Queensferry, May 19, Edinburgh.

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