Metro Bank has announced that it will be making more job cuts and ending seven-day trading in its branches. The bank confirmed it is cutting around 1,000 jobs and warned of further staff reductions as part of a revamp that will also see branches no longer open seven days a week.
The struggling high street lender said plans previously revealed to reduce annual costs by £50 million would result in about 22 percent of its 4,266-strong workforce being let go by mid-April higher than the initially expected 20 percent.
The bank stated it aims to cut another £30 million by the end of 2024, which CEO Daniel Frumkin warned would “inevitably” lead to more job losses.
He also announced that from March 29, all 76 stores will no longer open on Sundays or bank holidays and opening hours will be reduced following a review launched last autumn.
The company said most of its branches 44 sites will only be open five days a week, from Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5pm.
The remaining 32 stores will be open six days a week, from 9.30am to 5pm on Monday to Friday, and 11am to 4pm on Saturdays.
Currently, Metro Bank branches are open from 8.30am until 6pm from Monday to Saturday and 11am to 5pm on Sunday.
However, Metro Bank assured it would not close any of its branches under the revamp, with plans to open at least another 11 sites, mainly across the North of England.
Mr Frumkin said despite scaling back on its seven-days-a-week trading, it would “still be open more hours than other competitors on the high street”.
Talking about the additional cost savings, he mentioned not all of it would be a result of more job losses, but said “inevitably some will have to come from colleague costs”.
The revamp details were revealed as the company reported an underlying loss of £16.9 million for 2023, a big improvement from the larger losses of £50.6 million in 2022.
On official terms, the group announced it had made a profit for the first time since 2018, with pre-tax profits reaching £30.5 million.
