Bank sells branches in £150m deal

About 850 people work for Bristol & West's branch network

Bristol & West's branch network has been bought by the Britannia Building Society for £150m.

All 97 of the Bristol-based company's high street branches will now become Britannia sites. Some outlets will also be merged.

But Staffordshire-based Britannia said its deal with Bristol & West parent company, the Bank of Ireland, would not lead to any compulsory redundancies.

"Every Bristol & West employee will be offered a new role," it said.

I think there is go to be job (losses) downstream in some places because there is going to be rationalisation Arthur Taylor, regional secretary of Amicus

About 850 people work for the Bristol & West branch network, 700 on the high street and 150 at the bank's headquarters.

A further 1,100 staff who work at the company's base on Temple Quay in Bristol are unaffected by the sale and will remain part of the Bank of Ireland.

The branches are mainly in the South West of England.

According to Bristol & West, all staff supporting the branches at its headquarters would be offered jobs at Britannia's base in Leek or positions at the building society's other sites in the South West.

Roy Keenan, chief executive of Bank of Ireland's UK financial services, said: "(The) sale will probably complete in the autumn, probably around October, at that stage as well as all customers transferring to Britannia, all staff will transfer and there will be no compulsory redundancies."

But unions representing staff fear there will be job cuts in the longer term.

Mortgage brand

Arthur Taylor, regional secretary of Amicus, said: "I think there is going to be job (losses) downstream in some places because there is going to be rationalisation."

Under the deal, Britannia takes over the Bristol & West branches, 850,000 customers and savings accounts worth £4.5bn.

Bristol & West, which was formed more than 150 years ago, will remain primarily as a mortgage brand, sold directly to customers and through intermediaries.

Britannia said the acquisition would see it move into 65 new towns and areas where it does not currently have a branch.

It said branches would be merged only in places where Bristol & West and Britannia sites were within one mile of each other.