By Jonathan Davies
TSB will close 17 of its branches before the £1.7 billion takeover by Spanish bank Sabadell is completed.
The bank, which was spun-off by Lloyds Banking Group last year as part of its bailout agreement, many of the closures will take place within 500 metres of another branch.
Paul Pester, chief executive of TSB, said that three branches handed over by Lloyds were "within spitting distance of each other".
Mr Pester plans to remain with the company after the Sabadell takeover, which was announced in March, is completed. He said: “TSB is starting to fire on all cylinders as we take on the big banks in our mission to bring more competition to UK banking.
“While we still have a long way to go in bringing better banking to UK consumers, we’re making real progress. This is reinforced by Banco de Sabadell’s recommended offer to acquire TSB, which is a real vote of confidence in everything we’ve achieved so far and in our potential to succeed further in the future.”
The announcement on closing branches comes as TSB reported profits of £34m for the first quarter, up from £9m.
