Over 700 jobs to be wiped as RBS closes 162 branches

The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced it is closing 162 branches across England and Wales.

The bank said that 792 jobs would have to go because of it, but staff would be offered voluntary redundancy.

RBS branches across England and Wales - as well as Scotland’s NatWest business - had been earmarked for a new ‘challenger bank’ under the name, Williams & Glyn.

However, that project is now not going ahead and the bank has reviewed its branch network.

Speaking to the BBC, an RBS spokesman said: “We are no longer launching Williams & Glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other; NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland.

“As a result, we have had to review our overall branch footprint in England and Wales and we’ve made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches.

“Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales will be able to use NatWest branches instead for their everyday banking needs.”

It is said that around 109 branches will close in late July and August 2018, while a further 53 branches will close this November.

The Unite union has calculated that in the case of 71 of the 162 branches closing, customers will be forced to make return journeys of about 25 miles to reach another one.

Rob MacGregor, Unite’s national officer, added: “The Williams & Glyn saga rolls on as Royal Bank of Scotland continues with its shambolically poor management of this business.

“Nearly 1,000 employees have finally been told of their dark futures because the bank has been calamitously managed for too long.”

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