All the South West locations Santander plans to shut branches

Here in the South West, and across the UK, the high-street lender Santander says it is to shut 95 of its branches as part of an overhaul which will put around 750 jobs at risk.

The Spanish-owned bank will also cut hours across 36 sites, and switch 18 to be counter-free.

Santander said it will be left with 349 branches after the sweeping changes.

The majority of the planned redundancies are related to the branch closures, but about 12% of the cuts are because of the reduced-hour proposals.

It comes in response to customers increasingly switching to online banking, with a 63% surge in digital transactions since 2019 while branch transactions have slumped by 61% in that time, according to the firm.

A Santander UK spokesman said: "As customer behaviour changes, we are ensuring that our branches remain fit for the future.

"Our new combination of full-service branches, alongside work cafes, counter-free branches and reduced hours branches, aims to provide the right balance between digital banking and face-to-face money management and guidance."

He added: "Closing a branch is always a very difficult decision and we spend a great deal of time assessing where and when we do this and how to minimise the impact it may have on our customers."

Santander said that from June 30, the majority of the reduced-hours branches will be open just three days a week - either Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9.30am to 3pm, or Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9.30am to 3pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

The group will be recruiting 95 new community bankers in the locations where it is shutting branches and hopes to redeploy some of the affected workers into these jobs.

They will visit local communities on a weekly basis, based in centres such as libraries and community halls.

It comes after the firm shut 111 branches in 2021 - around a fifth of its network at the time - as part of its last major network review.

Rivals have also been closing branches nationwide amid the shift to online banking, with Lloyds Banking Group announcing 136 closures across its brands in January.

Santander said that 18 new banking hubs will need to be launched to serve local areas across the UK following its branch changes.

Here the PA news agency lists which bank branches will shut as a result of the announcement in the South West, and when they are due to shut:

• Camborne, Cornwall, July 7
• Exmouth, Devon, July 15
• Falmouth, Cornwall, July 21
• Honiton, Devon, July 14
• Launceston, Cornwall, June 16
• Plympton, Devon, August 14
• St Austell, Cornwall, July 8
• Torquay, Devon, June 17

Here the PA news agency lists which bank branches will shut as a result of the announcement across the rest of the UK, and when they are due to shut:

• Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales, June 24
• Arbroath, Angus, Scotland, June 17
• Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, July 1
• Blackwood, Gwent, Wales, June 23
• Blyth, Northumberland, August 5
• Bognor Regis, West Sussex, July 14
• Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, July 1
• Brecon, Powys, Wales, June 25
• Brixton, London, August 11
• Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales, July 07
• Canvey Island, Essex, August 5
• Clacton, Essex, June 16
• Cleveleys, Lancashire, June 23
• Colne, Lancashire, July 14
• Colwyn Bay, Clwyd, Wales, July 24
• Crowborough, East Sussex, July 23
• Croydon, Surrey, June 16
• Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, Scotland, July 7
• Didsbury, Greater Manchester, July 8
• Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, August 6
• Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, June 23
• Edgware Road, London, August 12
• Eltham, London, June 23
• Farnham, Surrey, July 29
• Felixstowe, Suffolk, July 16
• Finchley, London, August 6
• Fleet, Hampshire, June 30
• Formby, Merseyside, August 11
• Gateshead Metro, Tyne & Wear, June 16
• Glasgow LDHQ, Lanarkshire, Scotland, June 24
• Glasgow MX, Lanarkshire, June 23
• Greenford, Greater London, June 24
• Hackney, London, July 15
• Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland, July 24
• Herne Bay, Kent, July 8
• Hertford, Hertfordshire, July 29
• Holloway, London, July 14
• Holywell, Clwyd, Wales, Aug 13
• Kidderminster, Worcestershire, June 18
• Kilburn, London, June 17
• Kirkby, Merseyside, July 22
• Louth, Lincolnshire, June 17
• Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, June 24
• Malvern, Worcestershire, July 2
• Market Harborough, Leicestershire, July 01
• Musselburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, June 30
• New Milton, Hampshire, July 28
• Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, June 26
• Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, June 30
• Pudsey, West Yorkshire, July 28
• Rawtenstall, Lancashire, July 15
• Ross-On-Wye, Herefordshire, July 30
• Ruislip, Greater London, July 7
• Rustington, West Sussex, August 5
• Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, July 21
• Seaford, East Sussex, July 15
• Shaftesbury, Dorset, July 23
• Sidcup, Kent, August 11
• St Neots, Cambridgeshire, July 30
• Stokesley, Cleveland, July 31
• Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, July 23
• Surrey Quays, London, November 10
• Swadlincote, Derbyshire, June 30
• Tenterden, Kent, July 7
• Tottenham, London, July 8
• Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear, August 6
• Willerby, East Yorkshire, August 13
• Wimborne, Dorset, August 4
• Wishaw, Lanarkshire, ScotlandJuly 22

Branches awaiting confirmed closure date:

• Bexhill, East Sussex
• Billericay, Essex
• Dover, Kent
• Droitwich, Worcestershire
• Dunstable, Bedfordshire
• East Grinstead, West Sussex
• Holyhead, Gwynedd, Wales
• Ilkley, West Yorkshire
• Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
• Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
• Maldon, Essex
• Morley, West Yorkshire
• North Walsham, Norfolk
• Redcar, Cleveland
• Saffron Walden, Essex
• Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
• Uckfield, East Sussex
• Urmston, Greater Manchester

Banking hubs are set up by Cash Access UK, which is funded by UK lenders, including Santander.

"To support the changes, Santander will be proactively contacting all potentially vulnerable customers by phone and will assist those customers of closing branches to find other ways to bank that best suit their needs," Santander said.

Jenny Ross, money editor at consumer group Which?, warned Santander's branch closures will "come as a real blow to many customers".

She said: "Schemes introduced by the banking industry to protect these services, such as banking hubs, are a good start in plugging gaps left by closing physical branches, but they must be rolled out much more quickly if consumers are to feel their benefits.

"The government must hold banks' feet to the fire to ensure the commitments they've made to set up 350 hubs by 2029 are met - and should be prepared to review the target upwards if necessary."

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