500 jobs saved as bank cancels branch closures

Yorkshire Bank owner Virgin Money UK has announced that, as a result of the current situation with COVID-19, it does not intend to proceed with the branch closures and role reductions announced on 26 February 2020, until further notice.

The announcement in February included a number of planned changes to the business, linked to the Group’s integration process to bring together the operations of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank with Virgin Money and move towards using the single Virgin Money brand across the business.

The planned changes included the closure of 22 branches and consolidation of a further 30 branches, as well as the rebranding of the entire branch network to Virgin Money by October 2020. In addition, an anticipated reduction of around 500 full time equivalent (FTE) roles across the Group was announced in February as part of the forecast reduction of c.16% of FTE roles across the combined Group, announced during the acquisition of Virgin Money in 2018.

Lucy Dimes, Group Business Transformation Officer at Virgin Money UK, said: “Our primary focus is on supporting our customers and protecting our colleagues during this challenging time. As a result of the impact of Coronavirus in the UK, we have decided not to proceed with the integration changes we announced in February.”

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