Santander to shut Manchester and Liverpool offices alongside 111 branches across the country
Santander is shutting 111 branches including several in the north with many staff now working from home.
The banking giant said the plans come as it consolidates its office sites into six main locations across the UK and introduce more flexible working.
Milton Keynes, where the bank is investing £150m into a state-of-the-art new campus, will become the bank’s UK headquarters, alongside bases in Belfast, Bradford, Glasgow, London and Sheffield.
As part of these plans Santander will close its Bootle, Newcastle, London Portman House and Manchester Deansgate offices by the end of 2021.
It will also reduce its volume of office space at its London Triton Square, London Ludgate Hill, Leicester Carlton Park and Teesside sites.
Santander said there will be no change or impact to how the bank serves its customers and it will maintain ‘a strong local, regional and national presence to support business, commercial and larger corporate clients.’
Around 5,000 staff based at closing or consolidating sites will be offered ‘new dual location working arrangements’, combining working from home with access to local spaces ‘designed to enable team collaboration.’
Nathan Bostock, Santander UK CEO, said: “The pandemic has accelerated the existing trend towards greater flexible working, and our colleagues have told us this has brought significant benefits for many of them.
“At the same time, physical spaces remain very important and our sites around the UK will provide our colleagues with first-class facilities fit for the future.”
In Bootle, Liverpool around 2,100 staff will be impacted by the changes.
Santander had planned to invest £75m plans to demolish and redevelop its Merseyside base into a huge campus but put those plans on hold last year.
The bank said it will work closely with Sefton Council and the local community to discuss potential opportunities for the site.
Bostock added: “We will retain space in the Bootle area for collaboration and talent development. We look forward to continuing to work with colleagues, the local community in the Bootle area and Sefton Council in the years ahead.”
