Bank closure: Stenhousemuir's Virgin Money branch shuts

The Virgin Money branch in Hallam Road, which was formerly the Clydesdale Bank, shut to customers for the final time yesterday and the remaining staff finished today.

It was on October 1 last year that Virgin Money revealed plans to axe 12 branches in Scotland, with a further 18 closing in the rest of the UK.

As well as Stenhousemuir, the branches in Scotland being closed are in Airdrie, Banchory, Broughty Ferry, Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Galashiels, Milngavie, Musselburgh, Oban, Portree and Wick.

It is estimated around 76 employees in Scotland would be made redundant due to branch location, and the lack of suitable transfer alternatives nearby.

The announcement of the closures come as the Virgin Group was completing the process of rebranding the former Clydesdale branches with new signs alongside the mobile banking app.

In 2018, Virgin Money acquired the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group in a £1.7 billion takeover which Unite warned at the time could result in a 16 per cent reduction in the combined workforce.

At the time the closures were announced last autumn, Unite the Union said they were “shameful and bizarre” given the rebranding exercise.

Debbie Hutchings, Unite industrial officer, said: “The announcement will disproportionately impact on workers and communities across Scotland, and it is here where the Virgin Group axe will fall the hardest. Island communities from Portree to rural towns such as Wick are going to be left behind by Virgin Money.

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