Banking giant Santander is set to close 40 branches across the UK within weeks. The bank announced in January that it was reducing its high street footprint by a total of 44 locations, including four which closed their doors that month.
The lender said at the time that a further 40 branches would shut by the end of May, blaming the move on customers increasingly shifting to online services. Santander confirmed that more than nine out of 10 (96%) of all customer transactions were now being conducted via digital platforms.
Santander also revealed that a total of 291 jobs were at risk as a direct result of the planned closures. That announcement came less than 12 months after the Spanish banking giant confirmed the closure of 95 branches last March, a decision that impacted 750 members of staff.
In July 2025, Santander's then UK chief executive Mike Regnier disclosed that around 2,000 jobs had been lost during the preceding year under the bank's restructuring programme. At that point, he cautioned that further redundancies "might well be" on the horizon.
Santander said that affected branches would be replaced by "community bankers" operating through Santander Local stores or shared banking hubs, pledging to maintain access to essential services for customers in areas impacted by the closures.
The next wave of branch closures is now just weeks away. The affected locations are listed below.
Santander branches closing in May 2026
- Bishop Auckland, County Durham – May 5
- Gosport, Hampshire – May 5
- Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire – May 5
- Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire – May 5
- Pontefract, West Yorkshire – May 5
- Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire – May 5
- Glengormley, County Antrim – May 6
- Leyland, Lancashire – May 6
- Mansfield, Nottinghamshire – May 6
- Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan – May 6
- Northallerton, North Yorkshire – May 6
- Ringwood, Hampshire – May 6
- Andover, Hampshire – May 12
- Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan – May 12
- Enniskillen, County Fermanagh – May 12
- Macclesfield, Cheshire – May 12
- Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire – May 12
- Cwmbran, Gwent – May 13
- Golders Green, London – May 13
- Heswall, Merseyside – May 13
- Redditch, Worcestershire – May 13
- Stranraer, Wigtownshire – May 13
- Newton Abbot, Devon – May 19
- Stafford, Staffordshire – May 19
- Banbridge, County Down – May 19
- Liskeard, Cornwall – May 20
- Shirley, West Midlands – May 20