More bank branches close across Glasgow and the west in Virgin Money cuts

Virgin Money is cutting more than a hundred jobs and planning on closing 12 former Clydesdale branches across Scotland saying the Covid pandemic has accelerated the trend towards doing our banking online.

The company said the number of customers using bank branches for day-to-day transactions has been on a downward trajectory across the UK banking industry for a number of years.

Virgin Money said it intends to find alternative roles for staff wherever possible but that some will be at risk of redundancy.

It is expected that the changes will result in a reduction of around 112 full time equivalent roles across the group around the UK.

Is my local branch closing?

The Clydesdale Bank, which was started in Glasgow in 1838, was taken over by Virgin Money in a £1.7bn deal in 2018 to create the UK's sixth-largest bank.

Among the 12 Scottish branches closing are:

• Airdire

• Cumbernauld

• East Kilbride

• Milngavie

• Stenhousemuir

Virgin Money said each store was assessed on an individual basis, with careful consideration of the impact on the local area, the needs of vulnerable customers and the accessibility of alternative services such as free-to-use ATMs and the Post Office.

All of the closing stores are located less than a third of a mile away from the nearest Post Office.

Customers can use Post Offices for day-to-day banking, including cash deposits and withdrawals, cheque deposits and balance inquiries, as well as coin exchange.

Banking must evolve, says boss

Fergus Murphy, group customer experience director at Virgin Money, said: "As our customers change the way they want to bank with us and conduct fewer transactions in-store, we must continue to evolve the role of our stores into places where we showcase our products and bring our digital services to life.''

Following the changes, Virgin Money will have a network of 131 branches across the UK.

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