Barclays to close six bank branches in January 2025 - see full list of locations
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Barclays will be closing more banking branches in 2025, with six set to go in January. The high street bank reaffirmed plans to close 99 sites between 2024 and 2025 last year. The confirmation came after the bank slashed its branch portfolio by 177 in 2023. The branch closures will be seen in England and Wales, with no branches scheduled to close in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Five branches will be closing on January 17, and these will be in Cockermouth, Barnard Castle, Tredegar, Pickering and Ystrad Mynach. A sixth site will be pulling down the shutters on January 30 in St Neots. There is a seventh branch in Borehamwood earmarked for closure, however, a date has yet to be confirmed.
The Borehamwood branch was previously set to close on February 21, 2024. However, Barclays later confirmed that it would "be keeping it open for a while longer," with a new closure date to be announced. According to the bank, there were 1,447 Barclays branches in the UK in January 2024. England had the most locations, with 1,222 sites, which accounted for 84% of its retail portfolio.
Banks say that this has been driven by a rapid increase in online and mobile banking and a rapid decline in the use of physical branches. According to the consumer group Which? over 6,000 branches have disappeared since January 2015. The closures have seen some towns left with no high street bank branches whatsoever and have been coined "banking deserts".
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently banned lenders from closing too many branches too quickly in a bid to help people access cash. Under the policy, banks are required to plug the gap for customers impacted by the rise in physical branch closures. However, the changes will not stop closures; instead, they will make banks offer alternatives for customers. The new rules came into effect on September 18 this year.
