London, Feb 11, 2026, 22:43 (GMT)
- Lloyds Banking Group to close 95 branches between May 2026 and March 2027.
- Breakdown: 53 Lloyds Bank, 31 Halifax and 11 Bank of Scotland sites. (The Independent)
Lloyds Banking Group will close 95 more branches across Britain in the latest cut to its high-street network, as the lender leans harder on digital banking. The group said 53 Lloyds Bank, 31 Halifax and 11 Bank of Scotland sites will shut between May 2026 and March 2027, and a spokesperson pointed to customer demand for more ways to bank. (Sky News)
The latest list lifts planned closures in 2026 and 2027 to at least 168 branches across the three brands, consumer site MoneySavingExpert said, with totals including 94 Lloyds branches, 46 Halifax sites and 28 Bank of Scotland outlets. It said customers can still use any of the group’s branches for basic services such as cash deposits, withdrawals and paying in cheques, though it warned nearby branches can also end up on future closure lists. MoneySavingExpert flagged “banking hubs” — shared spaces run by the Post Office, separate to Post Office branches — and said 214 hubs were operating across the UK as of Wednesday, with 58 more recommended. (Moneysavingexpert)
Cash access network Link said 14 new locations will receive a banking hub to protect access to cash, describing hubs as shared spaces where staff from different banks operate on different days and customers can withdraw and deposit cash and pay bills. Lloyds did not say how many staff would be hit by the shutdowns, but said branch employees would be offered roles elsewhere in the business. (The Standard)
Rivals are making similar moves as lenders try to cut costs and keep up with digital-first competitors. Santander said last week it would close another 44 branches, putting 291 jobs at risk of redundancy, City AM reported, while HSBC has pledged not to shut UK branches until at least 2027 and Nationwide has said it will keep its branches open until at least 2030. (City AM)
Lloyds has been shrinking its network for years and has pointed to a steady decline in branch use. In January 2025 it said it would shut 136 UK branches without cutting jobs, and said its branches handled 10 million fewer in-person transactions in 2024 than a year earlier. (Reuters)
But the closure timetable is not fixed everywhere. Closure dates are “subject to change” at locations marked with an asterisk because banking hubs have been recommended there, Express & Star reported, and it said branches in places including Wednesbury and Longton were among those expected to be replaced by a hub. (Express & Star)
Link has cast banking hubs as the fallback for towns losing bank counters, arguing that cash demand has not vanished. “Millions still rely on cash day in, day out,” Link chief executive John Howells said in September. (LBC)
Lloyds has long argued customers are voting with their phones, not their feet. “Branch visits have been falling significantly for several years now, and this trend is continuing,” Vim Maru, then head of retail at Lloyds Banking Group, said in 2022, while union Unite called closures “inexcusable.” (Reuters)
