Petition to halt Santander closures started by Glasgow councillor
A Glasgow councillor has launched a petition over the weekend to stop the closure of Santander branches in her ward.
The Spanish-owned firm announced last week that they intend on closing 140 of their branches in the upcoming year, including 15 in Scotland.
But SNP Councillor Christina Cannon, who operates in the Springburn & Robroyston area, says that closing the Springburn Shopping Centre branch will have a “detrimental impact” on the community and the centre.
Taking to change.org to rally support, Councillor Cannon wrote: “Santander are closing 15 branches in Scotland, including the branch in Springburn Shopping Centre.
“The closure is due on 20th June 2019.
“This will affect staff, residents who use their local branch and will have a detrimental impact on the local shopping centre.
“Once again, the communities who need local banking the most are being subjected to closures.”
In response to the online petition, Edward Dickson said: “People need this bank open.
“As usual, close the high street branch and force everything online – what ever happened to the personal touch?
“God help the elderly bankers who need the interaction and not a screen.”
And Jacqueline Bickers said: “How are we able to bank with them when the nearest branch is in the city centre?
“Far too difficult to get in Mon-Fri.”
Upon announcing the plans, Susan Allen, head of retail and business banking, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels.
“As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.”
Santander have claimed that they will “seek to find alternative roles” for the 1,270 staff members affected by the closures, as well as offer support to customers of the closing branches to find other methods of banking that “best suit their needs”.
