HIGH street banking has suffered a fresh blow after it emerged 43 branches in Scotland are earmarked for closure and the UK's last independent bank is going out of business.
In a sombre day for the beleaguered sector, Clydesdale Bank announced it will shut more than a third of its 111 remaining offices while 182-year-old Airdrie Savings Bank revealed it was preparing for a "phased end to all business activities".
The combined number of jobs under threat total around 270 as Clydesdale pull down the curtain on 40 branches with Airdrie set to close three offices.
Read more: Pub boss fears closures as bills for business rates soar
Holding company CYBG, which owns Clydesdale, also announced that 39 branches and 200 jobs are also at risk at its sister group Yorkshire Bank as the firm moves to save £100 million in a bid to counteract the impact of lower interest rates and the potential for a post-Brexit slowdown of the economy.
Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse (above), urged banks to consider branch closures as a last resort.
The development came as Airdrie Savings Bank, announced it will close its doors with 70 staff at risk of losing their jobs.
The institution’s Lanarkshire headquarters will remain open for customers to transfer their money to an alternative banking provider while its branches in Coatbridge and Bellshill are expected to shut on April 28.
All of its 40,000 customer accounts are expected to be closed.
Ian McConnell: Banks must respond to Brexit but they do not have to close branches
Chairman Jeremy Brettell said: "Whilst we are financially strong, a comprehensive strategic review of all future options concluded that we will not have - as a very small bank - the resources in the years ahead to provide the products and services our customers need in this increasingly digital world.
"The decision to implement a phased end of business activities is totally consistent with the over-riding responsibility of our Board of Trustees to protect the best interests of our customers, both now and in the future."
The bank's chief executive Rod Ashley stressed the strategic review had "interrogated" all future options available to the bank.
He said: "Sad as the course of action outlined today is - in terms of our history and heritage - we are in absolutely no doubt it is in the best future interests of our customers."
Airdrie Savings Bank became synonymous with tradition and saw its customer numbers increase when the Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax Bank of Scotland had to be rescued.
In 2010, some of Scotland richest businessmen announced they were spending £10 million to start expansion of the bank with the creation of two new branches. The investors included Stagecoach founders Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, founder of Kwik Fit Sir Tom Farmer, former Rangers chairman Sir David Murray and Edinburgh’s Noble Grossart merchant bank chairman Sir Angus Grossart.
In 2015, the bank which had recorded losses in the two previous year, said it was closing branches in Motherwell, Baillieston, Muirhead and Shotts.
However, in recent years, it has struggled as the industry has seen customers move their banking away from branches, and secure internet and mobile banking has required very high levels of investment.
Airdrie and Shotts MSP Alex Neil expressed “deep sorrow” at the closure of the Airdrie Savings Bank saying: “This is the end of an era. "All those people, past and present, who made the ASB the success it was should be proud of themselves.
“The consequences of the financial crash have meant that it has become impossible for such a small bank as the ASB to survive, especially given the very tight regulatory regime that now exists for banks in Britain.”
News of closures came on the day that two banking giants - UBS and HSBC - warned they could each move around 1,000 jobs out of the City of London in the run up to Britain's divorce from the EU.
It will be seen as a potentially damaging blow to London's status as Europe's main financial centre.
Read more: Pub boss fears closures as bills for business rates soar
But on Scotland's high streets branch offices are becoming increasingly rare with around 143 either shut or earmarked for closure since 2014.
The dwindling numbers have been blamed on the popularity of online transactions or banking services in Post Offices, a report by consumer watchdog Which? found.
Since 2011, CYGB said the number of UK customers using their bank for day-to-day transactions had fallen by a third.
The Clydesdale move was described as the largest-ever closure plan by the bank.
It is now expected to embark on a £350 million investment programme over the next two years to overhaul the group, by improving its online banking offering and boosting digital platforms.
Dean Lockhart, economy spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said of the announcement: “This represents further troubling news for our labour market.
"We trust that Clydesdale will do all it can to limit redundancies and ensure staff are given the clarity they deserve about the future.”
Gavin Opperman, customer banking director, Clydesdale Bank, said: “While the decision to close any branch is never an easy one, it is important that we, in line with other banks operating in the UK market, continue to respond to changes in the way customers want to bank with us.
“The changes announced continue our journey towards a model that combines an enhanced digital platform with a right sized branch network; allowing customers to interact with us through a wide range of channels - mobile, online, telephone, in-branch - whenever and however they want.”
The latest Clydesdale branch closures come nine months after Clydesdale announced the closure of nine Scottish branches saying it was in response to the changing needs of customers.
A further 16 Scottish Clydesdale Bank branch closures was announced in 2014, which then parent National Australia Bank said would deliver savings of around £5 million a year.
Unite has published a list of the branches expected to close:
Clydesdale Bank
Aberdeen Riverside, Aberlour, Aboyne, Alloa, Banff, Bathgate, Bearsden, Beith, Bellshill, Brechin, Buckie, Cambuslang, Castle Douglas, Cumnock, Dalkeith, Dunoon, East Kilbride Stuart Street, Edinburgh Leith Walk, Edinburgh University, Forfar, Fraserburgh, Giffnock, Glasgow Aikenhead Road, Glasgow Bath Street, Glasgow Charing Cross, Grangemouth, Johnstone, Leith, Leven, Mintlaw, Renfrew, Rosyth, Rothesay, Saltcoats, South Queensferry, Stonehaven, Stranraer, Thurso, Tillicoultry and Troon.
Yorkshire Bank
Alfreton, Barnoldswick, Bradford West Bowling, Burton-Upon-Trent, Chadderton, Cleveleys, Clitheroe, Coalville, Crewe, Filey, Gateshead, Goole, Guisborough, Hinckley, Hull Hessle Road, Knottingley, Leamington Spa, Leeds Central, Leeds Chapel Allerton, Leeds Headingley, Leeds Woodsley Road, Leigh, Middlesbrough Berwick Hills, Newark, Normanton, Norton, Nottingham Bulwell, Ossett, Pickering, Retford, Richmond, Ripon, Royton, Sheffield Broomhill, Sheffield Firth Park, South Shields, Todmorden, Wath upon Dearne and Wellingborough.
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