The Mail on Sunday

Fears over future of Lloyds branches

- By Emma Dunkley

LEAKED Lloyds Bank documents have raised major questions on the future of its branch network.

Lloyds is set to offer cashiers and other lowerpaid branch staff t he opportunit­y to work from home as customer service representa­tives.

Briefing staff on the changes, Lloyds managing director Jo Harris, who is responsibl­e for 890 branches, said: ‘ We’re looking for a large number of branch coll eagues t o move i nto telephony roles and customer services on a permanent basis from the beginning of February.’

An audio obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveals Harris told staff in an internal meeting ‘there is still a vital place’ for branches, but added: ‘We will need fewer people in the future in our branches, given the reduced number of customers using them.

‘The pandemic has accelerate­d things. Transactio­ns are down significan­tly nationally, even outside of lockdown.’

The group will also look to move staff between its brands, which include Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland. It employs a total of 65,000 people. An analyst estimated there are more than 10,000 branch cashiers and consultant­s. Mark Brown, general secretary of the union BTU, said: ‘The shift in staff from branches to customer services signals Lloyds is readying to close potentiall­y hundreds of branches.’

Lloyds said: ‘ We are committed to maintainin­g the largest network of branches in t he UK. There are no role reductions or branch closures as part of this initiative.’

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