RBS to cut 792 jobs, close 162 branches in Williams & Glyn cull

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg via Getty Images

A logo sits above an automated teller machine (ATM) outside a Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) bank branch in London, U.K.

RBS, which is more than 70 percent owned by the British taxpayer following a 2007 bailout, said the redundancies and closures were necessary because many of its branches were too close to one another – within 0.6 and 2.5 miles – and because changing consumer behaviors have seen footfall numbers plummet.

“We realise this is difficult news for our colleagues and we are doing everything we can to support those affected. We will ensure compulsory redundancies are kept to an absolute minimum,” the bank said in a statement.

The cuts follow the closure of 259 branches announced in December last year, which resulted in 680 job losses, and similar moves by Britain’s biggest mortgage lender Lloyds Banking Group.

The two banks have cut around 3,600 jobs since December in a bid to cut costs and digitise their operations in the face of the increasing popularity of financial technology firms and online and telephone banking.

Employee union Unite criticised the planned closures and cuts, which follow the failed spin off of RBS’s Williams & Glyn brand in 2016.