Lloyds Banking Group Closes 44 More Branches

The Lloyds Banking Group has announced another 44 branches are to close. This is in addition to the previously announced closures earlier in 2021, meaning that 100 branches in the group will now be shut.

The latest closures involve branches of Lloyds and Halifax across England and Wales. The group has stated that customers are not visiting the branches enough, and are primarily moving to digital banking.

Full closure list

The latest branches closures will happen between September and November this year. The 44 branches are made up of 29 Lloyds and 15 Halifax.

The Lloyds branches are as follows:

Berkeley Square, Bournemouth Westbourne, Brighton Preston Circus, Brixham, Bromborough, Cardiff Rumney, Cheltenham Bath Road, Church Village, Faversham, Gants Hill, Halstead, Haslemere, Holsworthy, Henley-on-Thames, Hendon, Kempston, Kentish Town, Leeds Horsforth, London Regent Street, Mildenhall, Morley, Newport Maindee, Northwood, Oakham, Quinton, Sedgley Dudley, Stony Stratford, Tadley and Towcester.

The Halifax branches are:

Chertsey, Chesham Cheshunt Fleet, Chesterfield Central Pavement, Harpenden, Hinckley, Kenilworth, Manchester Cross Street, Market Harborough, Pinner Plaistow West Ham, Potters Bar, Rugeley and Upminster.

Once the branches have closed, the group will consist of 779 Lloyds Bank branches, 560 Halifax branches and 184 Bank of Scotland branches across the whole UK.

The Unite union has criticised the move, accusing the bank of “walking away from local communities”.

The decision to further erode its presence within our communities is baffling. The closure of 44 more bank branches will deny our communities of essential services such as access to cash and experienced highly trained staff. A local ATM is not a suitable alternative to a staffed bank branch.

Unite national officer Caren Evans.

Lloyds Banking Group retail director Vim Maru defended the move, arguing that there were considerably fewer transactions being carried out at these branches over the previous five-year period, and that Lloyds must “change for a future where branches will be used in a different way, and visited less often”.

Further closures risk access to branches

The move is not an isolated one — many of the major banks in the UK have made branch closure announcements this year. They all argue that the cause is due to lower customer numbers attending branches, although analysts believe that banks may be feeling the pinch after the effects of lockdowns in the UK over the past 18 months.

The debate about the future of bank branches is ongoing, with many customers unable or unwilling to move onto a fully digital service. The creation of shared bank hubs is one option being explored — branches that cater to multiple banks, rotating daily on which provider uses the space.

The Federation of Small Businesses has called on government action, as the reduced footfall in high street branches has a knock-on effect on surrounding small businesses. They have asked for institutions to come together to help businesses recover after the economic hardships of the Coronavirus pandemic.