News

RBS to shutter branch network in England, Wales

September 7, 2018

Following a review, RBS Group has announced that it will close 54 branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales in January. The closures will result in the redundancy of approximately 258 jobs, according to a press release.

"We realize this is difficult news for our colleagues and we are doing everything we can to support those affected," the bank said in a statement. "We will ensure compulsory redundancies are kept to an absolute minimum."

The Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales and the NatWest retail banking business in Scotland were to have been divested from RBS and launched as a separate challenger bank named Williams & Glyn. However, the plan was eventually abandoned.

A statement explained that because this plan fell through, "we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other in England and Wales." 

Further, the statement explained that the Royal Bank of Scotland retail banking business in England & Wales had been run as a standalone bank for approximately eight years and that it diverged in a number ways from the offerings, services and capabilities of the core bank.

According to a spokesperson, "Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales will be able to use NatWest branches and local post offices for their everyday banking needs. We will now focus on investing in our Royal Bank network in England and Wales to make sure customers have a consistent range of products and services wherever they bank, be it Scotland, England or Wales.”