Sarah Barker

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has said that it will be closing all three of its Lincolnshire branches, including in Lincoln.

This comes after the bank announced earlier today that it would be closing a total of 162 of branches in England and Wales, resulting in almost 800 job losses.

Following a review of the branch network in England and Wales a decision has been taken to close 162 Royal Bank of Scotland branches, with branches at the Stonebow Centre in Lincoln, on Victoria Street in Grimsby and on High Street in Scunthorpe on the list of closures.

There will be no changes to the NatWest retail banking business in Scotland.

As a result of this process, around 792 members of staff will be made redundant, however the number of job losses in Lincolnshire is unknown at the time of writing.

RBS said the decision was made due to ‘radical’ changes in the way customers bank over the last few years.

Since 2014, branch transactions across Royal Bank of Scotland in England & Wales are down 30%.

During this same period, there has been a 53% increase in the number of customers using mobile banking and mobile transactions have increased by 74%.

A new Global Service Operations Centre (GSOC) has opened today at Siemens’ Teal Park site.

It is the culmination of 11 months’ work to fit out the high-tech facility, which will manage parts and services to support the global network.

The 7,000sqm centre will house Siemens small gas turbine parts and engine storage on the same site as the Siemens Overhaul Facility. Previously the parts centre was located at Freeman Road, approximately two miles away.

£13 million has been invested to fit out the facility, including racking solutions allowing for up to 72 engines weighing between four and eight tons to be racked efficiently.

Since Siemens moved to Teal Park in 2012, more than £48 million has been invested in the site.

Photo: Lincolnshire Business

Approximately 120 people are employed in the GSOC in functions including logistics, operations and the UK customer support team, with 20 people based in the warehouse.

Neil Corner, Managing Director of Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery said: “We’re pleased to have built a new state of the art facility for our employers to work in which also is sustainable and has strong environmental credentials.

“Opening in the Global Service Operations Centre here marks a positive step for Siemens in Lincoln and the Industrial Gas Turbines product line, providing a world class solution for its global customer base.”

Lincolnshire business Simons Group was the lead contractor on the project, overseeing the building work.

Matthew Flower, Simons Group Commercial Director, told Lincolnshire Business: “A tremendous amount of work has gone into this site, we have been working on this for over 10 months.

“It was a very challenging project but we are pleased to say we have completed the site to a very high standard.”