John Baron MP meets Santander team to discuss Billericay branch

MP pleased Santander is maintaining high street presence

John Baron MP met recently with Franz McCoy, Santander’s Area Director and Ani Cara Public Affairs and Public Policy Manager to discuss changes to branch opening hours at Santander’s Billericay and Basildon branches. Santander has found that branch transactions have fallen by 33% in the two years before the pandemic, 20% in 2020 and 12% in 2021, with customers favouring online and telephone banking options.
The bank has decided to reduce opening hours at both branches from 9.30am to 3pm on weekdays and until 12.30pm on Saturdays. Between 3pm and 5pm staff will be on site for appointments and the assist their national call centre team in answering telephone banking enquiries.

Following the recent decisions by HSBC UK, Natwest and Barclays to close their branches on Billericay High Street, John is speaking with local banks to ensure that the local area remains well served by banking facilities.

John said:

“While it is disappointing that Santander is reducing its branch opening times, I am pleased it is maintaining a branch presence in the High Street and congratulate them on doing this. We have agreed to monitor the situation and promised to keep in touch.”

Franz McCoy, Area Director for Santander said:

“We are pleased to have had the opportunity to discuss the changes to our branch opening hours with John Baron MP. We have seen a continuing reduction in branch usage over several years, with many customers preferring to transact with us digitally or contact us by phone. The following changes help make sure we have the right mix of channels to help our customers however they choose to bank with us.”