West Midlands branches to go as Santander to shut 111 UK banks

Spanish bank Santander is to close four branches in the West Midlands as part of 111 UK site closures following a review of its operation which involves 840 staff.

Branches in the Merry Hill shopping centre and Hagley Street in Halesowen will close, along with its sites in Erdington in Birmingham and Harborne.

Santander said it has around 200 roles available in branches that will continue, bringing the overall loss in jobs to about 600.

Its other branches in the West Midlands include Dudley, Stourbridge, Telford, West Bromwich, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

The lender said its decision would be implemented by the end of August and leave it with 452 high street sites.

Santander saw a 33% fall in branch transactions in the two years before the pandemic, and reported a further decline of 50% during 2020.

Adam Bishop, head of branches at Santander, said: “Branch usage by customers has fallen considerably over recent years so we have made the difficult decision to consolidate our presence in areas where we have multiple branches relatively close together.

“We will provide every support to 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.”

West Midlands branches set to go and date of closure:

• Birmingham: Erdington 112 High Street, Erdington B23 6RS 29 July 2021

• Dudley: Merryhill Centre, Dudley DY5 1SY 24 June 2021

• Halesowen: 9 Hagley Street, Halesowen B63 3AS 22 July 2021

• Harborne High Street: 182-184 High Street, Harborne B17 9PP 5 August 2021