Virgin Money will close 38 branches with 255 jobs at risk

Virgin Money is set to shut almost a third of its bank branches due to changing customer demand.

The closures could result in 255 workers facing potential redundancy.

The banking business said it will shut 38 local banks which have seen fewer people go into banks as the popularity of online services grows.

Sites which have been affected have seen customer transaction numbers fall by an average of 43% since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020.

Sarah Wilkinson, chief operating officer at Virgin Money, said: “The decision to close a store is never taken lightly.

“But as our customers continue to change the way they want to bank with us, by conducting fewer transactions in-store and adopting the convenience of digital banking, we must respond to that evolving demand.

“For our colleagues, we will pursue all options to retain as many as possible within alternative roles, and have had great success previously with store colleagues moving to other customer operations roles, as their skills are highly transferable.”