Lloyd’s banking group announced job cuts of 865 staff as cost-cutting in lenders continues. The job losses will be in areas such as insurance and wealth management and comes as part of a planned restructuring of the business.
The news came alongside a report that food chain Pizza Hut is planning to close 29 restaurants with the loss of 450 jobs. The job cuts are a blow for the U.K. economy and highlights the pressure that companies are still under and the furlough scheme ends in October, which will bring the risk of further losses down the line if businesses see a slow recovery. Lloyds will be creating 226 new roles, which means the net reduction of staff comes in at 639 jobs, from their total workforce of around 65,000.
Research out from BAI has found that digital banking has surged since the beginning of the coronavirus. The Banking Outlook found that more than 50% of consumers are said to have used a digital banking app since the start of the outbreaks, while 87% of consumers plan on continuing with banking apps.
These trends are another reason that traditional banking institutions are under pressure. Virtual banks are on the rise, while finance apps are also disrupting areas such as pensions and wealth management. The lockdowns imposed have now allowed a new wave of tech-savvy banking customers to emerge and branch footfall may drop.
Lloyd’s share price has seen another bearish week and is looking to find buyers at 26.50p after a recent failure near 29.00p. The downside risk has support below at 25.42p which was a low on 31st July and it’s possible that the share price will move there before trying to carve out a stronger base.
