Lloyds to close 49 banks with 305 job losses

Lloyds Banking Group is to close 49 banks in the UK with the loss 305 jobs, between July and the October 2018. It said, “The changes in roles are in line with our plan to adapt to and meet the changing needs of our customers and as a result we will be creating 925 new roles. The lender said it is cutting more than 1, 200 roles in total. These new roles form part of the £3bn commitment we have made over the course of the next strategic plan to focus strongly on technology and people, equipping teams with the specific skills to advise and support our customers. To put this into context, we are planning our largest ever investment in our people by increasing training hours to 4.4 million hours per year”.

“ These decisions have an impact – we know, for instance, that lending to local businesses suffers when a branch is closed. I understand the use of internet banking is increasing but the big banks are shutting too many branches and not thinking enough about the full range of their customers” according to a Lloyds customer who was extremely frustrated.

Lloyds also said it would continue to consult the Accord and Unite unions on its plans.