Network shrinking at a relentless rate

IN 1989 there were estimated to be 17,831 bank branches in the UK. The Federation of Small Businesses forecasts that the size of this network will be just below 8,000 by the end of 2016.

An estimated 1,500 towns that previously had a bank are now branchless.

Consultancy CACI has predicted that 600 branches will ‘deliver effective nationwide customer coverage’ for each major bank across the UK in five years’ time.

The FSB has said the speed of this change is ‘outpacing the preference of some small businesses towards in-branch banking’.