Lloyds will purge 1,755 jobs and 29 branches

Lloyds Banking Group will make 1,755 redundancies and close 29 branches in three years as it looks to become a lower cost digital bank.

Lloyds Banking Group will make 1,755 redundancies and close 29 branches in three years as it looks to become a lower cost digital bank.

It is thought that nearly half of the cuts will be made at Halifax branches, while Lloyds said it would add 170 new jobs in retail and commercial banking and in its legal team.

Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio’s plan to cut costs in preparation for privatisation are currently in limbo however after Chancellor George Osborne postponed selling off the government’s remaining shares in the bank last week.

The public’s stake in the bank is currently just below 10% after a series of sell-offs last year.

The bank said in a statement: “Lloyds Banking Group is committed to working through these changes with employees in a careful and sensitive way. All affected employees have been briefed by their line manager today. Accord and Unite were consulted prior to this announcement and will continue to be consulted.

“The group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the group. Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, it will look to achieve this by offering voluntary redundancy. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort.”