Santander has confirmed that 111 of its branches will permanently close in the UK, including five in Harrow and surrounding areas.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, customer behaviour has changed with people spending much more time online banking and much less demand for physical banks.
Unfortunately, the days of going to the bank for a meeting with the bank manager are coming to an end.
Branch transactions at Santander have fallen by a huge 33 per cent in the two years prior to covid and last year by 50 per cent.
Santander’s UK boss Nathan Bostock 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,”
He added: “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.”
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Head of Branches at Santander, Adam Bishop 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.
“We continue to believe that branches have an important role to play and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.”
Here is a list of Santander branches shutting in and around the Harrow area:
Wembley Preston Road 223 Preston Road, Wembley – July 2021
Mill Hill 45 The Broadway, Mill Hill – July 2021
Eastcote 137 Field End Road, – September 2021
Pinner 27 Bridge Street, Pinner – July 2021
South Harrow 285-287 Northolt Road, Harrow – July 2021
