Shropshire branches of Lloyds bank could be in firing line

Lloyds Banking Group announced that 9,000 jobs are to be cut – around 10 per cent of the current workforce – and 200 branches shut under a new strategy aimed at improving efficiency and customer service.

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The details of which branches will close will be announced over the next three years, but Lloyds said the closures will focus on urban areas where branches overlap.

The bank says 90 per cent of customers will still have a "usable branch" within five miles of their home, while the bank's stablemate, Halifax, will have its numbers maintained.

The Lloyds closures will lead to a net reduction of 150 branches.

At present, Lloyds has single premises in Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Market Drayton, Newport, Newtown, Shifnal, and Welshpool.

Shrewsbury has three branches – one in Pride Hill and others in Mount Pleasant Road and Harlescott – while in Telford, Lloyds has outlets in the town centre, Broseley, Donnington and Madeley.

The closures spell an end to its commitment to be the "last bank in town" and represent around a tenth of its network of 2,000 sites.

Lloyds will invest in remote advice services for customers while they will increasingly be expected to use online banking or self-service facilities within branches instead of dealing with staff face to face.

Meanwhile, the group has announced a 41 per cent rise in underlying profits for the third quarter to £2.2 billion and said that it remained confident in its plans to resume dividend payments after six years.

Finance director George Culmer said of the pledge to keep branches open: "That was a specific commitment we made over the last planned period. We won't be able to commit to that going forward."

Referring to the job cuts, he added: "It is regrettable but this is about changing customer needs.

"We will work very, very hard to make sure that we lessen the impact as much as we possibly can on our people."

Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: "The business is performing strongly and we are well positioned to continue to support and benefit from UK economic growth.

"Over the last three years the successful delivery of our strategy has ensured that we have become a safe, highly efficient, UK-focused retail and commercial bank.

"The next phase of our strategy will use these strong foundations as a basis for meeting the rapidly-changing needs of our customers, and sets out how we will grow the business in a way that will deliver increasing and sustainable returns for our shareholders."

Lloyds said its new "digitisation" strategy would see £1 billion invested in digital technology over the three-year period. The group is also targeting £1 billion cost savings by the end of 2017.

It said: "We will realign our branch capabilities to operate more efficiently, increasing self-service technology and investing in remote advice services, with an increasing number of counter transactions migrating to digital and self-service."

Rob MacGregor, national officer of the Unite union, said: "These are deeply unsettling times for Lloyds staff, who after days of speculation and leaks face yet another round of job cuts and a future of uncertainty.

"Job cuts of approximately 10 per cent could have unknown consequences on customer service and will put even more pressure on staff."