Santander plans to close New Milton branch on Station Road
OLDER New Milton residents will be the worst affected by the impending closure of Santander’s high street branch, says the town’s mayor.
The Station Road site is among 95 set to shut nationwide this year in a move the banking giant said would “better serve the changing needs of its customers”.
It is expected the local branch will be replaced by a “community” banking desk to provide face-to-face services once a week. The branch closures will also put some 750 roles, including those in New Milton, at risk.
Reacting to the announcement, New Milton mayor Cllr Alvin Reid said older locals are among those who will most keenly feel the loss.
“Clearly we’ve got an older population here, and one that is not used to online banking and is not necessarily computer literate,” he told the A&T.
“They’re really used to face-to-face banking, and I think they could be impacted more greatly by this than in other parts of the country.
“It would be nice to see some of these banks work together to rent out a building in the town they could each use one day of the week, Halifax on a Monday, Barclays on a Tuesday, etc.
“They could all agree to split rent and rates and it would be good PR for them as they are closing branches.”
In a statement, Santander UK said it will be introducing new community bankers to provide “face-to-face support” for customers in locations where it is closing branches.
The bank said it is also investing in more work cafés, which will offer Wi-Fi, working spaces and “dedicated events” sites.
A spokesperson for the bank said: “As customer behaviour changes, we are ensuring that our branches remain fit for the future. Our new combination of full-service branches, alongside work cafés, counter-free branches and reduced hours branches, aims to provide the right balance between digital banking and face-to-face money management and guidance.
“As a business, we must move with customers and balance our investment across all the places where we interact with customers, to deliver the very best for them now and in the future.
“Closing a branch is always a very difficult decision and we spend a great deal of time assessing where and when we do this and how to minimise the impact it may have on our customers. However, we believe that the introduction of our new community bankers and the exciting plans we have for our remaining network of 349 branches and work cafés, alongside the rapid and innovative improvements to our award-winning mobile banking app, will provide the right balance of digital banking and human interaction when required.”
It’s the latest banking blow to hit the town, with Lloyds to close on 13th May, Halifax having shut in April last year and Barclays leaving the town in 2021.
