Nationwide building society is cutting 275 jobs in the latest round of redundancies since completing its £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money. The Guardian UK Business reported that bosses announced the cuts to staff on Wednesday, describing them as part of efforts to simplify operations and remove duplication after absorbing thousands of Virgin Money employees into the wider group.
The redundancies will affect staff across the retail division, including those working on mortgages, as well as employees in HR, the chief operating officer's office, customer operations, communications and finance. Nationwide said no customer-facing staff would be affected, which aligns with the lender's commitment to keep its 700 branches open until at least 2030. A Nationwide spokesperson said the changes were limited and that the company was supporting affected staff through retraining and redeployment.
This latest round follows 600 job losses announced in June. When Nationwide formalised its takeover in late 2024, Virgin Money had more than 7,000 staff while Nationwide had about 18,000 of its own employees, according to the building society's 2025 annual report. The combined workforce now stands at roughly 27,000 today. Executives had previously confirmed in 2024 that there would be limited workforce changes to deal with overlapping roles, with a formal review of the employee base to follow in subsequent years.
The Virgin Money takeover marked a rare moment when a member-owned building society snapped up a commercial high street bank. However, the deal proved controversial after Nationwide refused to give members a vote on it. A Nationwide spokesperson stressed that the latest cuts were not linked to any growing use of artificial intelligence.
For savers and borrowers with Nationwide, the job cuts mean the bank is streamlining back-office functions while maintaining customer-facing services and branch availability through 2030. Nationwide is scheduled to release its half-year financial results on 19 November.