Santander to close 44 branches and put 291 jobs at risk

Santander is closing a further 44 branches, putting 291 jobs at risk.

It is the latest swathe of closures by the Spanish-owned bank which, like others on the high street, is closing bricks-and-mortar stores as customers move online.

Last year, it announced plans to close 95, or a quarter, of its branches which had 750 workers. Lloyds Bank is also planning to shut more than 100 branches by March under a scheme of closures announced last year.

Ministers have criticised the closure of bank branches, arguing it restricts access to cash for elderly and vulnerable people.

Announcing the latest closures, Santander said 96% of its transactions are now done digitally.

It added that wherever a store is closing, a Santander representative will operate from a nearby banking hub or Santander Local - locations in libraries and community centres where customers can seek help one day each week.

"We will continue to invest in both our branch network - comprising of full-service branches, counter-free branches, reduced-hour branches, Santander Locals, and our increasingly popular work cafes - as well as our digital banking services, so we can be there to support our customers however they choose to bank with us," Santander said.

With several banks choosing to close branches across the UK, concerns have been raised about "banking deserts", with parts of Yorkshire leaving people without a bank for 10 miles.

A solution, in the form of so-called "banking hubs", has also been slow to roll out. Funded by the major high street banks and created by not-for-profit organisation Cash Access UK, they are run by local Post Office managers and customers from multiple banks can use them.

Bucking the trend of banks shutting stores, Nationwide, the UK's biggest building society, has pledged to keep all of its remaining 696 branches open until at least 2030. It has reported rising numbers of customers using its stores in the last year.

However, Nationwide did close 10% of its branches before making the pledge in 2023.

The full list of Sandander branches along with their proposed closing date is:

• Andover, Hampshire - 12 May 2026
• Banbridge, County Down - 19 May 2026
• Bangor, County Down - 29 April 2026
• Berwick Upon Tweed, Northumberland - 28 April 2026
• Bishop Auckland, County Durham - 05 May 2026
• Boston, Lincolnshire - 28 April 2026
• Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan - 12 May 2026
• Bridgwater, Somerset - 29 April 2026
• Cwmbran, Gwent - 13 May 2026
• Enniskillen, County Fermanagh - 12 May 2026
• Evesham, Worcestershire - 28 April 2026
• Glengormley, County Antrim - 06 May 2026
• Golders Green, London - 13 May 2026
• Gosport, Hampshire - 05 May 2026
• Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire - 05 May 2026
• Heswall, Merseyside - 13 May 2026
• Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire - 05 May 2026
• Kirkintilloch, Lanarkshire - 29 April 2026
• Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire - By the end of January 2027
• Leyland, Lancashire - 06 May 2026
• Liskeard, Cornwall - 20 May 2026
• Macclesfield, Cheshire - 12 May 2026
• Mansfield, Nottinghamshire - 06 May 2026
• Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire - 29 April 2026
• Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan - 06 May 2026
• Mold, Clwyd - 28 April 2026
• Newbury, Berkshire - 29 April 2026
• Newton Abbot, Devon - 19 May 2026
• Northallerton, North Yorkshire - 06 May 2026
• Ormskirk, Lancashire - By the end of January 2027
• Pontefract, West Yorkshire - 05 May 2026
• Ramsgate, Kent - 28 April 2026
• Redditch, Worcestershire - 13 May 2026
• Ringwood, Hampshire - 06 May 2026
• Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire - 29 April 2026
• Shirley, West Midlands - 20 May 2026
• Stafford, Staffordshire - 19 May 2026
• Stranraer, Wigtownshire - 13 May 2026
• Stratford Upon Avon, Warwickshire - 12 May 2026
• Tonbridge, Kent - 29 April 2026
• Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire - 05 May 2026
• Whitehaven, Cumbria - By the end of January 2027
• Wilmslow, Cheshire - By the end of January 2027
• Woking, Surrey - 28 April 2026