Santander branch to close

Santander Bank are to close their Hertford branch in Maidenhead Street as part of an overhaul of its network.

The bank is closing 95 out of its 444 high street outlets and reducing services or hours at a further 50-plus branches, over the coming months, with up to 750 jobs thought to be at risk.

The continued move to online banking has been given as a reason for the closures. The bank said financial transactions completed in branches fell 61% since 2019, while the use of internet banking to open accounts and conduct banking rose.

An assessment of the branch from July to December last year found that:

• 94% of customers already use a variety of ways to do their banking
• 78% of customers have used our Online, Mobile or Telephone Banking services
• 38% also use another Santander branch
• 30 of personal customers have transacted 3 times or more and only use the Hertford branch.
• 0 business customers have transacted 3 times or more and only use the Hertford branch.
• 30 customers have made a general enquiry 3 times or more and only use the Hertford branch

The full assessment can be found on Santander's website (PDF).

The branch will close on Tuesday 29th July 2025.

Closing a branch is always a very difficult decision and we spend a great deal of time assessing where and when we do this and how to minimise the impact it may have on our customers. As a business, we must move with customers and balance our investment across all the places where we interact with customers, to deliver the very best for them now and in the future.

:: Santander

The Maidenhead Street branch was redesigned five years ago to include digital workstations with tablets for online banking, Express Banking with a new ATM wall, counter services for more secure transactions and private interview rooms.

Over the last three years, all of the major banks have closed their branches in the town - Barclays (February '22), HSBC (June '23), Natwest (August '23) and Lloyds (December '24).