Corby town centre bank to close

Santander has announced 140 of its branches will shut in 2019, including its Spencer Court unit.

The Corby bank will shut its doors on April 25 as part of the first round of closures.

Santander branches in Kettering, Wellingborough and Northampton are not on the list of closures.

The announcement comes as part of the bank’s plans to “reshape its network in response to changes in how customers are choosing to carry out their banking”.

Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels.

“As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.

“We will support 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.”

The bank says it has consulted its trade unions on the proposed changes and will seek to find alternative roles for the 1,270 colleagues affected wherever possible.

Santander expects to be able to redeploy around a third of those affected and will be closely supporting colleagues over the coming weeks as the consultation process continues.

It will retain a nationwide network of 614 branches following the proposed changes.

All Santander current and business account holders will be able to bank using one of more than 11,000 Post Office branches across the UK.

Nationwide 100 Santander branches will be refurbished over the next two years through an investment of £55m.