Lloyds Bank to axe nearly 800 branch jobs in latest cull

Around 780 full-time branch jobs are being axed at Lloyds Banking Group in the latest round of staff cuts at the lending giant.

Trade union Unite said Lloyds told its workforce about the full-time equivalent redundancies on Wednesday, with the jobs set to go between June and October this year.

It comes just weeks after Lloyds announced plans to shut a further 56 branches across the UK.

Unite said the latest jobs cull is “more evidence of the bank’s ‘profits over people’ culture”.

Scott Doyle, Unite’s Lloyds Banking Group committee chairman, said: “The Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Halifax branches hit by the extensive staff cuts today will have sent shockwaves through the communities which are at present served by highly experienced bank staff.”

He added: “Unite has pressed Lloyds to reconsider these job cuts and ensure that the bank remains rooted in the communities on which they depend for their long-term sustainability.

“There is no doubt that customers need experienced and highly committed banking staff in their communities and not just at the end of the phone or via an app.”

A spokesman for the bank said: “As customers are using our branches less often, we are reducing the number of roles across our branch network.

“This means we can shape our service according to customer behaviour and local demand.

“Change does mean difficult decisions and we are focused on supporting our colleagues at this time.”

The high street lender has announced more than 10,000 job cuts since the Government sold off its stake in the lender to take it fully private in May 2017.

Its annual results last week revealed profits slumped by more than a quarter after the group was hit by a £2.5bn bill for the payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal.

The lending giant reported pre-tax profits of £4.39bn for 2019, down by 26% on 2018.

Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio saw his 2019 pay package cut by 28% as a result of the profits fall, but still took home £4.73m.