Jobs to be saved as N&P branches close

Jobs are to be saved at closure-threatened branches of the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society.

The Nottingham Building Society is to take on seven N&P branches, which in total employ between 35 and 50 people and were set to close before the end of the year.

The branches that will become part of The Nottingham include those in Huntingdon, Bourne, Spalding and Stamford. The remaining three are in Suffolk.

Bosses of the Yorkshire Building Society, which owns the N&P, announced in January that 10 branches would close by the end of the year as it sought to remove the N&P brand from the high street.

But, The Nottingham, which says it wants to revive the role of the branch, plans to invest £7 million in the new branches over the next five years. It hopes to have between 80 and 90 branches in the area in the next 10 years.

It expects to raise around £250 million in deposits in the new branches over the next five years.

David Marlow, chief execu- tive of The Nottingham, said: “Around 26 per cent of the country’s bank branches have closed over the past five years.

“Branch closures are leading to more people finding it difficult to access face-to-face advice and service about key financial issues. This is particularly true in market towns, where much of our focus is placed.”

A spokesman for The Nottingham said it hoped to expand its branches into the Peterborough area.

However, The Nottingham does not plan to take over N&P branches in Bretton, Werrington and Whittlesey that are earmarked for closure.

David Marlow, chief executive of The Nottingham