MAJOR Dorset employer Nationwide has said it does not expect significant job losses or branch closures despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The building society saw half-year profits hold up in an “unpredictable” economy, with £139million set aside for loans which may not be repaid.

It has extended its 'branch promise' so that no town which has a Nationwide presence will have it taken away until at least 2023, while no one will leave through compulsory redundancy this year.

Deputy chief financial officer Alison Robb told the Daily Echo that the business would not “look massively different” in early 2021.

“We are going through some restructuring activity so we can’t say there won’t be anybody that doesn’t have a job as we get through the next few months but these are not numbers that you might see in other organisations,” she said.

“Where we do see reducing demand, we’re also trying to work through how we help re-skill people. We’ve had some real successes this year allowing people, where we’re seeing reduced demand, to re-skill for parts of the business where we see increased demand.

“That’s got a double benefit for us. Clearly we’ve got great staff who are then serving members in a different way but also they have been able to learn new skills and it’s incredible when you see people be able to do that.”

Branch closures or job losses not on the table at Nationwide despite financial hit

She added: “We’re absolutely not saying that we’re not going to see changes. I can’t give you a number on that because there are things we’re still in discussion with but I don’t think you will see enormous differences in the next few months ahead.”

Although Nationwide has committed to not withdrawing completely from any towns, it closed branches in Boscombe, Canford Cliffs, Highliffe and West Moors last year.

Ms Robb said: “We are passionate that we should remain committed to supporting high streets across the UK and so the branch promise has been hugely important.”

Nationwide set to shut four local branches

She said the way customers did business was “shifting”, adding: “If we look forward to having this conversation in the months ahead, I don’t think you’ll see any major shifts in branch numbers but we always reserve the right to have to deal with individual situations if we think it’s the right answer for members and for the society as a whole.”

The society saw underlying pre-tax profits for the half-year to September 30 fall slightly to £305million from £307m the previous year. Reported half-year pre-tax profits rose 17 per cent to £361m, but the group set aside £139m for loans that may not be repaid.

Many of the society’s staff based at Portman House in Bournemouth’s Richmond Hill are currently working at home, taking hundreds of workers out of the town centre.

Ms Robb said the future of work was likely to be between the “extremes” of home working and working entirely in the office.

“A lot of our people enjoy working from home, a lot don’t. So many of our people talk about how they miss the camaraderie and the informality of being with colleagues and enjoy being in the workplace. And so I believe there will absolutely be an element of that that will come back but it’s also really important that we are really flexible as an employer because equally we’ve got lots of feedback about how this environment has given people a bit more flexibility in how they live their lives,” she said.

“So I don’t want to make a call as to exactly what it will look like but I don’t think it will quite be as it is today. We absolutely want to continue to engage our people in dialogue,” she added.