Metro Bank planning to slash 850 jobs and cut opening hours

Metro Bank is planning to slash its branch opening hours and axe hundreds of jobs as part of proposals to save it from collapse.

The lender said it will make 20 per cent of its 4,266-strong workforce redundant, which means more than 850 jobs will be lost.

The move to cut its business hours is a blow for customers as the bank’s seven-day-a-week operation was one of its selling points when Metro opened its doors in 2010.

It had looked to capitalise on public anger over high street branch closures by mainstream banks since the 2008 financial crisis by focusing purely on branch services.

Part of its strategy was to help bank customers avoid ‘the lunchtime sprint’ by being open between 8am and 8pm every day of the week.

Job cuts: Metro Bank said it will make 20% of its 4,266-strong workforce redundant, which means more than 850 jobs will be lost

Analysts believe the bank will probably cut its opening hours at the weekend.

Metro added that the measures were part of plans to cut costs by £50million a year. This was up from a previously announced target of £30million.

This week Metro received shareholder approval for a £925million refinancing plan and is in talks to sell a £3billion mortgage book.

In a disastrous day for British high street banking, Lloyds announced that it will be closing 45 branches.

And NatWest has warned that there are more cuts to come after it last week said that it would shut 19 sites.

Thousands of branches have been axed over the last few years and more than 500 have shut in 2023 as customers switch to online banking.

But the cuts affect elderly and vulnerable people, and small businesses that need easy access to cash.

Metro Bank said that it was in talks with the financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, about the effect that reducing its opening hours would have.

The lender has about 2.7m customers and 76 branches in the UK.

Metro Bank said it remains ‘committed to stores and the High Street’ and still has plans to open around 11 new sites, mainly in northern England, by the end of 2025.

This week Metro received shareholder approval for a £925m refinancing plan and is in talks to sell a £3bn mortgage book

Most branches are in and around London, but the lender is looking to expand in other cities including Exeter, Norwich and Nottingham.

But it will ‘transition to a more cost-efficient business model’, by automating some service and back-office jobs, and improving its digital service.

‘The company is reviewing seven-day opening and extended store hours across the store network and is in discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority about the customer implications of any such changes,’ it said. 

The bank yesterday confirmed it had completed a £150million share placing that was a core part of the rescue package that was secured in October.

More than 90 per cent of its shareholders voted to approve the deal this week.

Billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal, from Colombia, will become the bank’s controlling shareholder following the placing.

His Spaldy Investments will inject £102million into the lender, which will increase his stake from 9 per cent to 53 per cent.

Metro had signalled that it was in trouble in October following a series of blunders in recent years. 

They included accounting errors, leadership departures and delayed regulatory approval for key capital relief plans.

It revealed last month that it needed hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its balance sheet and had to refinance £350million of debt within a year.

Metro chief executive Daniel Frumkin said: ‘The support shown from our investors through this transaction will allow Metro Bank to accelerate its growth plans with the new capital allowing us to unlock the potential in the business and deliver sustainable profitable returns as we strive to be the number one community bank.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk