Gainsborough branch of NatWest to close next year

NatWest has announced it is to shut its Gainsborough branch next year.
The Gainsborough branch of NatWest. Photo: Google.The Gainsborough branch of NatWest. Photo: Google.
The Gainsborough branch of NatWest. Photo: Google.

It is among 197 NatWest and 62 Royal Bank of Scotland branches earmarked for closure by mid-2018, with the loss of 680 jobs.

The bank, which is still still 72 per cent owned by the taxpayer, has blamed the cuts on customers moving to bank online or on mobile.

The closures and job cuts follow similar moves by Lloyds and Yorkshire Building Society earlier this week.

NatWest spokesperson Kate Visser said: "Since 2012 we have seen the way in which people use NatWest Gainsborough branch change dramatically, with now 86 per cent of customers already banking in other ways locally.

"Transactions in NatWest Gainsborough branch have reduced by 37 per cent since 2012 with now only 58 customers visiting the branch on a weekly basis. Fifty-eight per cent of customers are now choosing to bank digitally with us on a regular basis instead."

The Gainsborough NatWest on Market Street is scheduled to close on June 20, 2018, after which the nearest branch will be 12 miles away in Retford.

Ms Visser said other ways to access its services remained available, including online, mobile, telephone and video banking, via cash machines or the Post Office.

"We are communicating with our customers affected by the closure and proactively contacting vulnerable customers and regular branch users," she added.

"We have extended the time between announcing our decision and the branch closure to six months; this has been done so that we can ensure our customers have enough time to consider the right banking options for them and to give us time to support them one-to-one during the transition.

"We know that not all of our customers are comfortable or familiar with using online or mobile banking, so we have created a new specialist taskforce of NatWest TechXperts who will be dedicated to supporting our customers with training and support with digital skills until the branch closes."