Co-op bank to axe 18 branches and 350 employees
The Co-operative Bank has said it plans to cut around 350 jobs and close 18 branches.
As well as jobs going owing to branch closures, the bank also plans to reduce middle management and head office roles.
Andrew Bester, the bank’s chief executive, said record low interest rates were partly to blame for the cuts.
Mr Bester said the firm will try to redeploy colleagues in other roles where possible.
He said: ”We are responding to the continuing shift of more and more customers choosing to bank online, with lower levels of transactions in branches, a trend which has been increasing for some time, across the banking sector and more broadly."
The bank becomes the latest firm to announce job losses following the impact of coronavirus on the economy.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost so far and more will likely follow as the furlough scheme begins to wind down in October.