NatWest branches to close in Newport and Bridgnorth
NatWest Bank branches are to close in Newport and Bridgnorth it was announced today.
The two branches in Shropshire are part of 197 Natwest and 62 RBS outlets being shut down by Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Newport branch will close on May 22, 2018, whilst the Bridgnorth branch will close on June 12, 2018.
An RBS spokesperson said: "As customers change the way they bank with us, we must change the way that we serve them and this means that some branches will have to close.
"Closing a branch is a decision we take very seriously."
RBS, which is 72%-owned by the taxpayer, said it would try to ensure compulsory redundancies were "kept to an absolute minimum".
Unite, the UK’s largest union, representing staff across RBS, accused the taxpayer backed bank of decimating its branch network and betraying communities.
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer said: “The Royal Bank of Scotland has decided to decimate its bank branch network. Now serious questions need to be asked about whether these closures mark the end of branch network banking.
"This announcement will forever change the face of banking in this country resulting in over a thousand staff losing their jobs and hundreds of high streets without any banking facilities.
“The closure of another 259 branches is savage and represents a betrayal of loyal staff and customers who have supported the bank for decades. Why is the Government signing off this alarming branch closure program?
“A decade of slashing jobs has done nothing to boost morale, increase consumer confidence or improve the bank’s performance. This British-taxpayer funded bank should be concentrating on investing in jobs here in the UK, rather than cutting them wholesale.”
