BRADFORD branches of Santander are among those which will close in the coming months, it has been announced today. 

The banking giant said its plans to close the 111 branches is in response to the ongoing shift by customers towards mobile and online banking.

The trend has been accelerated by the pandemic, although branch transactions fell by a third over the two years before the virus crisis and declined by a further 50 per cent in 2020, said Santander.

Mobile and online transactions have been growing by 20 per cent each year, with almost two thirds of transactions now digital.

Most of the branches being closed are less than three miles from another Santander branch, and the furthest is five miles.

The closures will leave a network of 452 branches, while Santander said it expects to find alternative roles for a significant number of staff affected by the announcement.

The branches in the Bradford district which will close their doors include: 

Wibsey – June 24 2021

Bingley Main Street – July 1 

The Brighouse Commercial Street branch will close on July 15.

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, whose constituency includes Bingley, said of the news: “I am extremely disappointed with this announcement from Santander which will be damaging to the town, to their staff and to their customers, particularly those who don’t bank online. 

"I have already fixed up a meeting with the bank to discuss this further with them where I will do all I can to urge them to rethink this."

Jamie Illingworth, President of the Bingley Chamber of Trade and Commerce, added: "I would urge Santander to reconsider this decision."

He said the feedback he'd had is that the bank is used frequently by consumers and businesses alike in the town.

Mr Illingworth added: "Obviously it's very disappointing news for the town."

The Wibsey branch is the last remaining bank in the village.

Bradford South MP Judith Cummins, whose constituency includes Wibsey, said: “This is very disappointing news and I am meeting with senior managers from Santander to call upon them to rethink their decision.

"The lack of access to banks and cash across my constituency is a huge issue for people and businesses."

She said she would be supporting a petition against the closure.

Meanwhile, it has been reported Santander will close offices in Bootle, Newcastle, London and Manchester before the end of the year.

The 5,000 office staff affected will be asked to work from home more often or travel in to one of its six remaining offices - one of which is in Bradford.

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.

“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.”

The Communication Workers Union said it had reached a ground-breaking agreement with Santander on new ways of working which will preserve jobs and avoid compulsory redundancies that would otherwise have been “inevitable”.

National officer Sally Bridge said: “Recent membership surveys have indicated a desire from a large majority of those currently working from home for flexibility to continue after the pandemic, and this agreement achieves that for the majority of employees affected by these changes.

“Ultimately, however, faced with the proposals of site closures and consolidations, the deal we’ve negotiated has avoided compulsory redundancies by giving individuals genuine options, crucially protecting our most vulnerable members for whom dual location arrangements were not suitable on account of their exceptional circumstances.

“Santander deserves credit for recognising its responsibilities to its employees and I hope other employers follow the moral lead the bank has taken in what is likely to be one of the first of many far-reaching corporate readjustments to the post-Covid world of work.”