5,100 jobs lost in Yorkshire banking sector

LEEDS has been among the worst-hit in the country as the number of banking jobs fell nationally by 28,000 in just two years.

Leeds is the third-largest employer in the sector – behind only London and Edinburgh – and employed 11,336 people in 2013.

However this was down by 1,769 between 2011 and 2013, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Across Yorkshire, 5,100 jobs were lost in the sector between 2011 and 2013. Heavy reductions were also felt in Calderdale, which lost 1,428 banking jobs, and Sheffield and Harrogate both lost nearly 500 jobs each over the two-year period.

Rotherham was the only area in Yorkshire which employed more than 200 people in the sector to see an increase. It saw a 16% rise in employee numbers, up 121 to 890.

Some of the largest banking employment sites in the region are First Direct, part of HSBC, which has 2,600 people across two sites in Leeds, and Santander, which employs 1,200 people in Bradford. There are more than 30,000 people workign in the banking sector in Yorkshire.

Anthony Browne, chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), said: “This serves as a potent reminder that a strong banking industry is in all our interests. We should be careful to protect our banks from any moves that undermine their success and thereby their potential to create employment across our country.”

The research by the BBA revealed Cardiff, Edinburgh and Sunderland as regional “banking hotspots”, where hundreds of new roles have been created. Between 2011 and 2013 the number of banking jobs in areas including Warrington, Fife and North Tyneside also showed a strong increase.

Mr Browne added: “These statistics shatter the myth that banks only employ people in small corners of our biggest cities.

“It is heartening to see the number of jobs growing strongly in places such as Edinburgh, Cardiff and Sunderland. But at the same time I am concerned to see reductions in some other parts of the UK.”