Earlier this year, Santander said it would close 95 of its 444 high street branches in the UK from June 2025, putting 750 jobs at risk.
In London, 10 Santander branches will close, and five of those are in south London.
The Sidcup branch at 39 High Street will be the third south London branch to shut, closing at 3pm on Monday (August 11).
Besides these closures, Santander will also reduce opening hours at 36 other branches across the country.
They will change 18 branches to be counter-free, to better meet customers’ changing needs.
These changes have worried some people in south east London.
In Orpington, Daisy Ayres started a petition asking banks to stay open.
She warned that many closures could leave vulnerable people without important services.
Santander said the 750 jobs at risk are more than four per cent of its 18,000 UK staff.
Most job losses come from branch closures, but about 12 per cent are from reduced hours.
The plans still need approval after talks with unions.
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.
“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.”
1 Comment
There is definately a lot to find out about this subject. I like all the points you made