Virgin Money to slash 500 jobs and shutter 52 branches
UK bank Virgin Money is planning to cut 500 jobs as it continues to integrate with Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group (CYBG), it said today.
The challenger bank also said it will shutter 52 branches. Of these, 22 will be closed this year and 30 more will be “consolidated” into another Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank or Virgin Money location within a half mile.
Virgin Money said that “a significant proportion” of the jobs cuts would come from its head offices, which are based in Glasgow and Newcastle with supporting offices in Leeds, Norwich, Edinburgh, Chester and London.
The announcement came just hours after UK rival Lloyds said it will cut 780 jobs, in a sign of the British banking industry adapting to a new landscape. Morning Wire understands Lloyds is not planning to close branches, however.
Virgin Money, founded by Sir Richard Branson in the 1990s, merged with CYBG in a £1.7bn deal in 2018.
Today, Virgin Money said the declining use of bank branches was a key reason it was shutting stores and sacking workers.
“Statistics show that the number of customers using bank branches for day-to-day transactions across the UK banking industry has been on a downward trend for a number of years,” the firm said.
“Virgin Money UK continues to evolve its banking offering to meet this changing consumer behaviour.”
Lucy Dimes, group business transformation officer at Virgin Money, said: “The decision to close branches is never taken lightly.”
Dimes said the move came as part of a “full rebrand of our national network of 166 stores”. She said this will begin in April and will be completed by September.
Last month the lender said it was operating in a “difficult market”. Banks have come under pressure from digital competitors and low interest rates – which limit the amount of money they can make from lending.
Nonetheless, Virgin Money managed to oversee a solid expansion of its personal and business loan book in the three months to December 2019, its results showed last month.