Lloyds bank announces closure of Cheltenham and Gloucester branches
It may have been around for over 150 years but today the deathknell was sounded for Cheltenham and Gloucester with news that all 160 branches will be closed with the loss of 1,500 jobs. While Lloyds bank, the parent company of Cheltenham and Gloucester, may retain the name as some form of Internet banking operation, the company is one of the largest victims of the ongoing banking crisis.
Lloyds bank has announced 4,500 job cuts so far but many expect this figure to increase by up to 20,000 before the company has fully bedded down the HBOS acquisition which is fast becoming one of the most disastrous mergers of all time. Not only have we seen the demise of Cheltenham and Gloucester, thousands of job losses at Lloyd's bank, thousands of job losses at HBOS but we have also seen Lloyds bank, a one-time bellwether of the UK banking sector, forced to go cap in hand to the UK government for bailout funding.
When the merger with HBOS was announced last year there were many people who applauded the move, not least the UK government, as it literally saved the UK banking sector from collapse. However, Lloyds bank shareholders are today ruing the day they ever came across HBOS as it has been nothing short of a disaster.
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