Three Local Santander Branches Escape the Axe

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Fulham, Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush banks not among 140 facing closure

 

Hammersmith & Fulham's three branches of Santander have escaped the axe and are not included among the 140 facing closure.

The bank announced this week plans to 'reshape' its branch network and close the 140 branches in response to changes in how customers are choosing to carry out their banking.

Santander says its future network of 614 branches nationwide will be made up of a combination of larger branches offering improved community facilities to support local businesses and customers, and smaller branches using the latest technology to offer customers more convenient access to banking services.

Our local branches are in Fulham's North End Road, Hammersmith's Kings Mall Shopping Centre and the West 12 Centre on Shepherd's Bush Green.

Nearby branches which are earmarked for closure include Acton, West Ealing, Portobello Road, Queensway and Wandsworth.

Santander say it has consulted its trade unions on the proposed changes and will seek to find alternative roles for the 1,270 colleagues affected wherever possible, adding that it expects to be able to redeploy around a third of those affected and will be closely supporting colleagues over the coming weeks as the consultation process continues.

The company has reported that the number of transactions carried out via Santander branches has fallen by 23% over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels have grown by 99% over the same period.

Susan Allen, Head of Retail and Business Banking, said: "The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels.

"As a result we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have branches in close proximity.

"We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible."

"We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years. We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers' changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future."

January 25, 2019