Royal Bank of Scotland announces closure of a fifth of branches including New Deer and Aberdeen St Nicholas
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The north-east will be left with just five branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland between Elgin and Aberdeen after the announcement of the closure of a fifth of branches including New Deer and Aberdeen St Nicholas.
The Bank confirmed that a total of 18 of its 86 local branches have been marked for closure later this year.
RBS confirmed that 105 people would be impacted by the closures as the Bank which is owned by NatWest pointed as all others who have culled physical branches have to the rise of digital services It also said there would be no further closures of branches until 2026 and plans a £2.5m new flagship branch in Inverness in the Eastgate Shopping Centre, at Falcon Square with the associated closure of two other branches in the city.
In response to the RBS announcement, Esther O'Hara, Unite industrial officer for the union which represents many of the staff said: "The news that RBS is proposing to slash its high street and community banks by a fifth is another massive blow to this loyal workforce and the communities the bank serve. Many of these banks are situated in rural and remote communities where RBS customers rely on this vital service. The proposed closures come off the back of RBS closures elsewhere in the UK and we fear this latest announcement is just another stage in the phasing out of banks from our nation's streets in the race to make all banking operations digital which is not suitable or accessible for many customers."
Closures which are due to be concluded by September include -
Aberdeen St. Nicholas
Bathgate
Cumbernauld Tay Walk
Dundee Kingsway Circus
East Kilbride
Edinburgh Bruntsfield
Edinburgh Leith
Edinburgh Nicolson Street
Glasgow Cardonald
Glasgow Charing Cross West
Glasgow Rutherglen West
Helensburgh
Inverness Chief Office
Inverness Eastgate
Largs
New Deer
Newbridge
Wishaw
In the north-east this would leave branches in Elgin, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Inverurie and Queen’s Cross in Aberdeen.
