HSBC to close 82 branches across the UK

Sites will start shutting their doors permanently from April 23, starting with Edinburgh’s Princes Street branch, with approximately three closing each week until the end of September.

There are currently HSBC branches in Weymouth, Dorchester, Blandford, Shaftesbury, Bridport, Winton, Westbourne, Bournemouth town centre, Poole, Christchurch and Ringwood. 

HSBC said it will reformat stores and keep some full-service branches where required. (Tim Ockenden / PA)

HSBC said the Covid-19 pandemic has seen a greater shift to online banking although insisted the closures were not entirely related to the lockdowns and restrictions introduced.

Staff in branches facing closure are also expected to be redeployed to other branches and sites within 15 miles of their homes, the bank said.

HSBC said the closures are part of plans to become a market-leading digital bank and an overhaul of how remaining branches will operate.

Of the 82 sites closing, 81 are within a mile of a Post Office, two thirds are within five miles of another HSBC branch and nine in 10 are within 10 miles, the bank added.

Bosses said the changes will see four distinct branch formats that “best suit customer needs, based on detailed analysis of customer behaviour”.

These include full service branches, cash service branches for customers who need greater access to cash, counterless branches with self-services only and pop up branches.

Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s head of network, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for the changes that we are making.

“It hasn’t pushed us in a different direction but reinforces the things that we were focusing on before and has crystallised our thinking.

“This is a strategic direction that we need to take to have a branch network fit for the future.

“Making sure we have a sustainable branch network is essential to us, and decisions to close branches are not taken lightly.

“By ensuring we have the most suitable branch format in each specific local market that we serve, we will ensure that we are in good shape to meet the challenges ahead.”

She added that stripping out any impact of the pandemic, the number of customers using branches has fallen by a third in the last five years.

Nine in ten of all customer contact the bank over the phone, internet or smartphone and staff talk with more than 100,000 customers a week on social media.

Similar moves were announced in the past 12 months by rivals and a recent report by consumer group Which? found banks and building societies closed, or scheduled to close, 3,770 branches since January 2015.

The full list of HSBC branches set to close this year:

Friday 23 April

Edinburgh, Princess St

Friday 7 May

Brighton, Ditchling Road

Hull, Merit House

Wednesbury

Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks

Friday 14 May

Hull, Holderness Road

Pontyclun, Talbot Green

London, Fleet Street

London, Fenchurch Street

Friday 21 May

London, Old Broad Street

London, Charing Cross

Sheffield, Darnall

Oxford, Summertown

Friday 28 May

Leeds, Chapel Allerton

Cardiff, Rumney

Torquay, Strand

Staines

Friday 4 June

Plymouth, Forder House

Belper, King Street

Colchester

London, Whitechapel

Friday 11 June

London, Marylebone

London, Streatham Hill

Falkirk High Street

Fleet, Fleet Road

Friday 18 June

Reading, Woodley

Oxford, Headington

Swansea, Gorseinon

Wigston, Leicester Road

Friday 25 June

Tavistock, Bedford Square

Bristol, Nailsea

Leeds, Cross Gates

Yate, North Walk

Friday 2 July

London, Kingsbury Road

Cleckheaton, Bradford Road

Bexleyheath, Broadway

London, South Woodford

Friday 9 July

Birmingham, Erdington

Goole, Wesley Square

Congleton, High Street

Formby, Chapel Lane

Friday 16 July

Gillingham, Kent

Dunstable, West Street

Chorley, Market Street

Pontypridd, Taff Street

Friday 23 July

Felixstowe, Hamilton Road

Godalming, High Street

Prestatyn, High Street

London, Southgate

Friday 30 July

Tewkesbury, High Street

Maldon, High Street

Hatfield, Herts

Huntingdon, High Street

Friday 6 August

Stockport, Bramhall

London, Russell Square

Richmond Yorkshire, Market Place

Friday 13 August

Loughton, High Road

Rustington, The Street

Exmouth, Chapel Street

Friday 20 August

Bournemouth, Winton

Liverpool, University

Cleveleys, Victoria Square

Clevedon, Triangle

Friday 27 August

Northallerton, High Street

Walton-on-Thames, High Street

London, High Holborn

Friday 3 September

Aldershot, Wellington Street

Eastcote, Field End Road

London, Edgware Road

Friday 10 September

Ramsgate, High Street

Manchester, Chorlton-Cum-Hardy

Letchworth, Station Place

London, Hackney

Friday 17 September

Barnet, High Street

Deal, High Street

Cheshunt, Turners Hill

Swadlincote, High Street

Friday 24 September

Dorking, West Street

Welshpool, Broad Street

London, Surrey Quays

Worksop, Bridge Street