HSBC to close a quarter of its UK bank branches with 114 being axed
HSBC is closing around a quarter of all its UK bank branches from next April.
The company confirmed it would shutter 114 outlets in a fresh blow for the high street.
As many as 100 jobs could be lost but the company says employees impacted by the change will be offered new roles.
The bank will operate 327 outlets in the UK after the 2023 changes, a statement from the company said.
It revealed some are visited by fewer than 250 people a week.
HSBC becomes the latest bank announcing money-saving cuts as customers increasingly shift online.
A trend towards digital services aware from visiting branches was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to information compiled by Link, the company behind the UK cashpoint network, it means the number of bank closures announced this year has topped 600.
Lloyds is axing 66 branches this winter, including 18 operated as Halifax.
Santander, Natwest and Barclay have all also announced closures this year.
Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s managing director of UK distribution, said: ‘People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning. Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us.
‘The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we’ve invested heavily in our ‘post-closure’ strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking.’
This is a breaking news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.