Hundreds of jobs go as bank branches face cull
ROYAL BANK of Scotland is to close a quarter of its branch network and axe nearly 700 jobs in a move that will close down 25 Yorkshire NatWest branches.
The decision by the statebacked lender will see a total of 62 RBS branches and 197 NatWest outlets closed by mid-2018, with 1,000 staff affected.
It will leave RBS with just 744 branches in the UK. Unions claim ed the closures could signal the end of face-to-face banking.
RBS is to close 259 bank branches by the middle of next year.
Five NatWest branches will close in the Sheffield area. Other Yorkshire branches earmarked for closure include: Bawtry, Cleckheaton, Cottingham, Dinnington, Driffield, Guisborough, Heckmondwike, Hornsea, Hoyland, Hull, Penistone, Pickering, Pocklington, Richmond, Ripon, Stocksbridge, Stokesley, Thorne, Whitby and Yarm. The closure of the Hornsea NatWest follows the recent announcement that Lloyds will also close its Hornsea branch, which means the East Yorkshire seaside town is to lose both its remaining banks.
George McManus of Beverley and Holderness Labour Party said: “This is desperately bad news for the town.
“Many businesses and elderly people rely on these banks. Following news that the minor injuries unit is to close, this is a double hammer-blow for a town which prides itself as a tourist resort and as a great place to retire to.”
RBS, still 72 per cent owned by the taxpayer after being badly hit by the financial crash of 2007, said that it hopes to limit the number of redundancies to 680 by redeploying the remaining staff.
The bank is the third this week to announce branch closures and job cuts, following Lloyds and Yorkshire Building Society.
Justifying the move, the lender said more people are choosing to bank online or on mobile.
An RBS spokesman said: “More and more of our customers are choosing to do their everyday banking online or on mobile.
“Since 2014 the number of customers using our branches across the UK has fallen by 40 per cent and mobile transactions have increased by 73 per cent over the same period. Over five million customers now use our mobile banking app and one in five only bank with us digitally.”
However, union Unite described the move as a “betrayal” and ripped into the Government for allowing the closures to proceed.
The union’s national officer Rob MacGregor said the move could effectively signal the end of banking in branches.
He added: “The Royal Bank of Scotland has decided to decimate its bank branch network.
“Now serious questions need to be asked about whether these closures mark the end of branch network banking.
“This announcement will forever change the face of banking in this country.”