Virgin Money to continue online banking ‘digitisation’ push after 39 bank branch closures

Last Updated, Feb 6, 2024, 11:13 AM

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Virgin Money has confirmed it will continue its focus on improving its online banking services after closing 39 bank branches.

The lender announced it will provide “greater cost-efficiency through digitisation” in its Q1 2024 financial results earlier today.

Virgin Money said it was on track to meet its target of saving £200million a year through restructuring.

So far, the bank has made 39 bank branch closures in the latest three-month period with a loss of around 150 full-time jobs.

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Virgin Money is continuing to digitise its operations to cut costs

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As a result of this decision, Virgin Money has slashed its total branch network by 30 per cent, leaving the business with only 91 physical locations.

The bank said it believes it has spent about £275million on restructuring costs, including improving IT systems, changing property spaces and cutting roles.

David Duffy, Virgin Money’s chief executive officer, said: “We’ve delivered growth in new accounts, deposits and target lending segments, at stable margins and with ongoing cost efficiencies.

“We are encouraged by both our customers’ resilience and improving sentiment in the mortgage market as interest rates have peaked. We carry good momentum into 2024 as we continue to successfully execute our strategy.”

More than 5,828 bank and building society branches have closed since January 2015, according to Which?.

Concerns have been raised over whether communities will have sufficient access to cash services with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set to get more powers to assess the necessity of closures.

Aside from its restructuring plans, Virgin Money reported a 2.2 per cent decline in mortgage lending to £57.1billion in the three months to December, down from £58.4billion in the same period a year earlier.

According to the lender, this fall was indicative of a more disciplined approach to lender amid a “subdued” market.

The lender closed 39 branches last year

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Despite this development, Virgin Money cited early signs of improvement in the housing market last month. This was reflected with residential and buy-to-let mortgage applications being in line with 2019 levels before the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its predictions for the future, the bank forecast lower mortgage rates will give consumer sentiment a boost considering interest rates have likely “peaked”. Over the period, provisions for bad loans increased to almost £640million from £617million in the last quarter more households struggled to make mortgage repayments.

Here is a breakdown of the 39 bank branches that were shut down by Virgin Money in 2023:

Unit 1A The Gosforth Centre NE3 1JZ, Newcastle upon Tyne – 08/11/2023
151 High Street KA12 8AD, Irvine – 20/11/2023
28 Market Street AB41 9JE, Ellon – 27/11/2023
1 Main Street AB53 4AA, Turriff – 28/11/2023
76 Saddler Street DH1 3NP, Durham – 06/11/2023
5 Cattle Market NE46 1NJ, Hexham – 07/11/2023
7 Stricklandgate LA9 4NB, Kendal – 06/12/2023
28 St. Peter’s Street DE1 1SL, Derby – 17/10/2023
58 High Street PH33 6AH, Fort William – 22/11/2023
83 Victoria Street DG8 6NL, Newton Stewart – 15/11/2023
53 Lord Street L2 6PB, Liverpool – 05/12/2023
Poltalloch Street PA31 8LL, Lochgilphead – 21/11/2023
34 The Town EN2 6LU, Enfield, London – 21/11/2023
36 Market Square BR1 1NF, Bromley, London – 30/11/2023
307 Station Road HA1 2TA, Harrow, London – 23/11/2023
30-31 Haymarket SW1Y 4EX, London – 29/11/2023
2 Golders Green Road NW11 8LH, Golders Green, London – 22/11/2023
160 Friar Street RG1 1HE, Reading – 15/11/2023
15-17 Castle Street KT1 1ST, Kingston upon Thames, London – 28/11/2023
12 North Street GU1 4AF, Guildford – 14/11/2023
154-158 Kensington High Street W8 7RL, Kensington, London – 27/11/2023
26-27 Sidney Street CB2 3HW, Cambridge – 25/10/2023
10 Castle Street NR2 1PD, Norwich – 26/10/2023
170 North Street BN1 1EA, Brighton – 09/11/2023
18-19 Trinity Street CF10 1BH, Cardiff – 02/11/2023
Unit 16, Norfolk House, Wellesley Road CR0 1LH, London – 13/11/2023
83 High Street CM1 1DX, Chelmsford – 20/11/2023
67 Queen Street WV1 3BY, Wolverhampton – 18/10/2023
6-8 Watergate Street CH1 2LA, Chester – 19/10/2023
215 High Street GL50 3HH, Cheltenham – 30/10/2023
5 Lockey House AL1 3LP, St Albans – 24/10/2023
10 Regent Circus SN1 1PW, Swindon – 31/10/2023
502 Silbury Boulevard MK9 2AD, Milton Keynes – 23/10/2023
5 Wellington Place BT1 6GA, Belfast – 13/11/2023
112 Old Christchurch Road BH1 1LU, Bournemouth – 07/11/2023
10 College Place SO15 2FD, Southampton – 08/11/2023
60 South Street EX1 1EE, Exeter – 06/11/2023
129-129A High Street OX1 4DF, Oxford – 16/11/2023
Unit 2, Transom House, Victoria Street BS1 6AH, Bristol – 01/11/2023.

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