Another 20 Lloyds and 8 Halifax Branches to Close

Lloyds Banking Group will shutter a further 20 Lloyds and eight Halifax branches between August and November, citing falling customer numbers and a shift to online banking.

The banking group already axed 48 branches between January and April of this year and previously announced that it will close 60 branches between June and September. 

With the latest announcements, the number of Lloyds locations closing in 2022 has hit 136: 85 Lloyds Bank storefronts, 32 Halifax outlets, and 19 Bank of Scotland branches. Lloyds also shut 100 branches in 2021.

Lloyds said that visits to the 28 branches have dropped by an average of 60% since 2016 as customers opt for digital banking. The group now has 18.6 million regular online banking customers and more than 15 million mobile app users - up 12% and 27%, respectively, over the past two years.

Lloyds said that within one mile of each affected branch, there is a free cash machine or Post Office where customers can perform simple banking tasks such as depositing cash and cheques and withdrawing money.

The union Unite said 69 staff will be affected by the latest round of closures. National officer Caren Evans said the Lloyds management is “letting down customers and their dedicated workforce."

“These closures will leave some customers more than 10 miles from their nearest bank branch,” she said. "This is a betrayal of some of the most vulnerable, elderly and socially excluded in our communities who need local access to community banking.”

A spokesperson for Lloyds said the firm will “support all colleagues impacted, who want to remain with the Group, with a move to a new role.”

It also said the closures are being made “in line with the Access to Banking Standard and FCA guidance, with the Group’s unions Accord and Unite, consulted.”

Under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance in place since September 2020, banks must notify the regulator of planned closures and detail their impact on customers, including vulnerable people, and detail the alternatives available to them. But the guidance hasn’t slowed the pace of branch closures: 736 branches were retired in 2021 alone and more than 300 will be axed this year.

In addition to Lloyds’ closures, TSB is shutting 70 branches between April and June, and HSBC will close 69 locations between July and October. The NatWest Group will axe 32 NatWest and RBS branches between May and July, while Virgin Money will shut 31 sites.

Lloyds branches to shut

Norwich Heartsease - 23/08/2022
Thatcham - 24/08/2022
Ashby-de-la-Zouch - 25/08/2022
Bilborough Nottingham - 31/08/2022
Broadstone - 31/08/2022
Letchworth - 01/09/2022
Nottingham Hyson Green - 06/09/2022
Oadby - 06/09/2022
Plympton - 07/09/2022
Verwood - 07/09/2022
Ilfracombe - 12/09/2022
Whickham - 12/09/2022
Atherstone - 13/09/2022
Hadleigh - 14/09/2022
Swanage - 19/09/2022
Ystrad Mynach - 20/09/2022
Bourne - 21/11/2022
Heald Green - 22/11/2022
Banstead - 24/11/2022
Williton - 24/11/2022

Halifax branches to shut

Coalville - 22/08/2022
Falmouth - 07/09/2022
Hoddesdon High St - 01/09/2022
Manchester Trafford - 05/09/2022
Lewes - 05/09/2022
Walton Vale - 08/09/2022
Dover - 13/09/2022
Dorchester - 22/11/2022

Sources