Nationwide building society is cutting 600 jobs in the first significant redundancy round following its controversial £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money. The move affects staff from both companies whose roles are expected to be duplicated once their operations are fully integrated.
Virgin Money formally became part of Nationwide this spring after the deal was completed. The building society had remained silent about the potential impact on workers since the acquisition was first announced in 2024.
Back-office roles affected, branches spared
The redundancies are understood to target back-office staff rather than customer-facing roles. Nationwide has pledged to keep nearly 700 branches open until at least 2030, protecting jobs in those locations. The building society employs approximately 25,000 staff.
Nationwide is now conducting a weeks-long consultation over the job cuts with the Nationwide Group Staff Union (NGSU) and Unite, which represents Virgin Money bank staff. The plans were revealed to colleagues last week at the group's headquarters in Swindon.
Company statement and union response
Nationwide stated: 'We are now the UK's fastest-growing banking provider, continuing to attract more customers and expand into new areas such as business banking. As we integrate Virgin Money, we are making some modest changes in areas where activities overlap. However, we're committed to retaining the talent and skills of our colleagues wherever we can.'
The building society is recruiting for about 270 roles, but none are specifically reserved for staff affected by the cuts. Emma Clay, general secretary of the NSGU, acknowledged that the takeover 'inevitably led to a duplication of roles' and expressed disappointment 'by the impact they will have on affected colleagues.' She added: 'Our priority is to ensure that consultation is meaningful, that all reasonable alternatives are properly considered, and that every member receives the support and representation they need throughout the process.'
Controversial deal and executive pay
The takeover of Virgin Money was a rare instance of a member-owned lender acquiring a commercial high street bank, but it proved controversial as Nationwide refused to give members a vote on the deal. Nationwide later used the takeover to justify a 43% increase in chief executive Debbie Crosbie's maximum pay package, allowing her to earn up to £7m if all criteria were met. Members were not given a binding vote on Crosbie's pay rise at the annual general meeting.
The lender's annual report, released this month, showed Crosbie received £3.2m in bonuses, pushing her total pay to £4.7m for the year to March 2026.
Previous job cuts and advertising controversy
Nationwide had already cut about 800 jobs by early 2024, including 200 redundancies announced just before Christmas 2023. That followed Crosbie's decision to rescind a 'work anywhere' policy introduced by her predecessor during the Covid pandemic.
Nationwide has marketed itself as different from high street banks, even hiring actor Dominic West for an ad campaign portraying him as a hard-nosed bank manager closing branches, contrasting with Nationwide's pledge to keep locations open. Some of those adverts were later banned by the advertising watchdog.
