JOB cuts and branch closures could be ahead for TSB, as staff and customers brace for Santander’s £2.65billion takeover to clear regulators.
The mega-merger is set to spark a year of upheaval that will likely see the historic TSB name vanish from our high streets forever.
To add to the uncertainty, Santander UK’s chief executive Mike Regnier will quit his post by March 2026.
However, Regnier hasn’t minced his words about the pain ahead for the workforce.
He admitted that having two branches in the same town serving the same people makes “no point,” signalling a wave of closures is inevitable.
The difficult task of axing branches and integrating the businesses will now fall to his successor.
It is all part of a ruthless drive to save cash.
Santander bosses expect to shave a massive 13% off combined costs as a result of the takeover.
While Regnier claims savings will come from IT and “back-office” roles, the reality looks grim for frontline staff across the country.
Experts are already sounding the alarm on the impact of the deal.
John Cronin from research firm SeaPoint Insights said: “I expect the scale of the staff and branch cuts over the next couple of years will be substantial.”
The deal is a massive power play by Santander’s Spanish owner, Ana Botin.
By swooping in to buy TSB from rival Sabadell this summer, she has created a banking titan with 28million retail and business customers – the third largest in the UK for current accounts.
But that massive scale is exactly why cuts are coming.
At the time the deal was announced, TSB had 5,000 staff and 175 branches, while Santander had 18,000 workers and 349 sites.
Merging them means hundreds of locations could now be in the firing line.
Two insiders are reportedly fighting it out to take the helm and steer the bank into the future.
Chief Risk Officer Mahesh Aditya and Enrique Alvarez Labiano, head of retail and business, are understood to be on the shortlist to replace Regnier.
The new boss won’t just be swinging the axe on branches – they face a toxic car finance scandal too.
Santander has already had to delay its third-quarter UK results as lenders grapple with the fallout from mis-sold loans that has engulfed the industry.
The bank has blasted an £11billion compensation scheme set up by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Santander UK declined to comment.
What does this mean for TSB customers?
Right now, there won’t be any changes for TSB customers, as the details of the deal are still being worked out.
It’s business as usual for both TSB and Santander customers, and any changes that might happen in the future will be communicated well in advance to make the transition as smooth as possible.
The big question is whether the TSB brand will disappear completely.
Santander might decide to merge the two banks into one single brand, or it could choose to keep TSB and Santander as separate names for a while.
A good example of how this could play out is Nationwide’s takeover of Virgin Money in October 2024.
While both brands still operate separately for now, Virgin Money is expected to be phased out gradually over four to six years.
Even if TSB’s brand does vanish, customers with accounts, credit cards, loans, or mortgages will usually be moved to Santander without any major changes to their accounts.
For example, credit card holders will likely get a long adjustment period where their current rates and terms stay the same, even if their account shifts to Santander’s system.
The same usually applies to savings account holders too.
Santander’s takeover of TSB still needs regulatory approval, but if it’s approved, the sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter 2026.
The changing face of high street banks
THE UK’s high street banking landscape is undergoing major changes, with several well-known names reshaping their operations.
Here’s a timeline of the biggest moves:
- Nationwide and Virgin Money: Nationwide completed its £2.9billion takeover of Virgin Money in October 2024, creating Britain’s second-largest mortgage and savings provider. Combining the two brands will take up to six years, with nearly 25million customers and around 700 branches once complete.
- Tesco Bank: Tesco sold its banking operations to Barclays for £600million, with the deal completing on 1 November 2024. The transfer included credit cards, personal loans, and customer deposits, but Tesco Bank continues to operate under its own brand.
- Coventry Building Society and The Co-operative Bank: Coventry Building Society finalised its acquisition of The Co-operative Bank in January 2025. The move brought the 152-year-old bank back under mutual ownership, creating a top-ten UK lender with assets of £89billion and over 4.5million members and customers.
- Sainsbury’s Bank: In January 2024, Sainsbury’s announced plans to wind down its banking operations to focus on retail. NatWest agreed to acquire its banking arm in June 2024, and the deal was officially approved in April 2025. All customers will transfer to NatWest by October 2025.
