Virgin Money has postponed its branch closure programme and job cuts until further notice because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The banking group said planned changes to the business announced in February to bring the operations of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank under the Virgin Money brand would not go ahead for now.
The planned changes included the closure of 22 branches and consolidation of a further 30 branches as well as rebranding the entire network as Virgin Money by October 2020.
As part of the changes it said that it was anticipated around 500 full-time equivalent roles across the group would be cut as part of a 16% cut in jobs announced during the acquisition of Virgin Money in 2018.
Lucy Dimes, group business transformation officer at Virgin Money UK, said: “Our primary focus is on supporting our customers and protecting our colleagues during this challenging time.
“As a result of the impact of coronavirus in the UK, we have decided not to proceed with the integration changes we announced in February.”
But it is understood that the move will mean the end of work for now for day rate contractors with Deloitte and Accenture who have been working on the change programme.
One source said that the number of day rate contractors who would no longer have worked amounted to about 500 across the UK.
