A UK bank will shut almost a third of its high street branches, with 255 workers facing potential redundancy.
Virgin Money said it will shut 39 local banks due to changing customer demand, which has seen fewer people go into banks in favour of online services. The sites affected have seen the number of customer transactions fall by an average of 43% since the pandemic hit in March 2020.
The decision to close these stores is based on factors including footfall, transaction volumes and the number of potentially vulnerable customers in the local area, the banking business said.
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It added that each store is closing less than half a mile from the nearest Post Office.
Sarah Wilkinson, chief operating officer at Virgin Money, said: "The decision to close a store is never taken lightly. But as our customers continue to change the way they want to bank with us, by conducting fewer transactions in-store and adopting the convenience of digital banking, we must respond to that evolving demand.
"For our colleagues, we will pursue all options to retain as many as possible within alternative roles, and have had great success previously with store colleagues moving to other customer operations roles, as their skills are highly transferable."
The bank said it will write to customers affected and display posters about the move at least 12 weeks before branches are shut. It will leave the company with 91 branches across the UK.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "This announcement of the closure of 39 vital bank branches has sent shockwaves across the Virgin Money UK workforce. While the financial services sector is acquiring eye-watering profits, they must start taking their responsibilities to customers and communities more seriously.
"Access to a bank and cash is a fundamental need for all our local high streets. Simply walking away from the consumers who bring the banks astronomical profits is a complete disgrace."
The Liverpool branch will close, while the only other in Merseyside – the St Helens branch – will remain open.
Here is a full list of the stores that are closing:
- Belfast
- Croydon
- Harrow
- Newton Stewart
- Bournemouth
- Derby
- Hexham
- Norwich
- Brighton
- Durham
- Irvine
- Oxford
- Bristol
- Ellon
- Kendal
- Reading
- Bromley
- Enfield
- Kensington
- Southampton
- Cambridge
- Exeter
- Kingston
- St Albans
- Cardiff
- Fort William
- Liverpool
- Swindon
- Chelmsford
- Golders Green
- Lochgilphead
- Turriff
- Cheltenham
- Gosforth Centre
- London Haymarket
- Wolverhampton
- Chester
- Guildford
- Milton Keynes
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