Barclays to close Hucknall branch this summer citing decline in customer visits

Barclays, on High Street, will shut on Friday, June 5, as bosses say that 84 per cent of customers now use telephone and internet banking services, leaving just 240 people who now bank exclusively in-branch.

They say that trends in those figures over the past eight years have convinced them the bank’s presence in Hucknall is unsustainable, although there were still 39,539 counter transactions in the latest figures for 2018-19.

That includes 3,274‬ personal banking customers and 460 business clients who visited the branch at least three times during the year.

Barclays spokesman Adrian Davies said: "The way customers undertake their banking is changing as people increasingly use online, telephone and mobile devices.

"We hope that the availability of our nearby Barclays branches, along with our range of digital channels, will help to ease the transition for our customers."

Barclays says that 29 per cent of Hucknall customers already use other nearby branches some of the time.

From June 5, customers are advised to bank six miles away in Mapperley, further to Nottingham city centre, or 8.4 miles to Heanor.

Cash machine users can go to Lloyds or the Post Office on Hucknall High Street, or Wilko on Central Walk.

Customers can withdraw or pay in money at the Post Office using a Barclays debit card or cheque deposit slip and envelope, although there are charges for business transactions.

The bank has put 340 staff on notice for job cuts or relocations across the country, in addition to at least 800 at a processing centre in Leeds which is being shut.

Unite, the recognised trade union in Barclays, has expressed its alarm at the announcement.

National officer Dominic Hook said: “The sheer scale of the job cuts announced today by Barclays is alarming. This is clearly a time of immense uncertainty and worry for the workforce.

“The union is working with Barclays to put into place every possible remedy to support the staff in finding suitable alternative employment and offering advice and support to assist colleagues.”