Santander Bank have announced changes to their UK operations, including a Milton Keynes headquarters and the closure of a local branch in Bletchley.
The Spanish-based bank has announced plans to consolidate it’s UK operations, with the Milton Keynes site as the company’s main headquarters for its’ UK operations. The bank is investing £150m into a state-of-the-art new campus in Milton Keynes, which will become the bank’s UK headquarters. The site is due to open in 2023, supplemented by bases in Belfast, Bradford, Glasgow, London and Sheffield.
Following consultation with trade unions, Santander will close sites Bootle, Newcastle, London Portman House and Manchester Deansgate offices by the end of this year. It will also reduce iffice space at sites in Triton Square and Ludgate Hill in London, Leicester and Teesside.
Santander UK CEO Nathan Bostock said, “We are investing £150m in our state-of-the-art new campus in Milton Keynes, which will become our new headquarters. Milton Keynes is one of the UK’s leading technology centres and with a number of innovative education and training providers on our doorstep, we believe it will provide us with excellent future access to talent and opportunities for colleagues to innovate and develop their skills.”
The move to reduce office space will see around 5,000 staff based at closing or consolidating sites offered dual location working arrangements, combining working from home with access to local spaces designed to enable team collaboration.
Meanwhile, a retail branch of Santander at the Brunel Centre in Bletchley is one of over 100 branches in the UK that the bank has announced will close. The branch will close in July 2021. The bank confirmed this move reflects the move by banking consumers to move towards online banking.