Newcastle Building Society to cut 126 jobs in closures

NEWCASTLE Building Society is to close four branches south of the Border and cut 126 jobs in a bid to slash costs.

The mutual, which has 985 staff, said back office and management roles would be affected as it looks to preserve customer-facing roles. But the UK's eighth-largest building society added it was creating 80 customer service jobs following a contract win.

Chief executive Jim Willens, the former boss of Dunfermline Building Society, said: "This is still a very challenging climate for the financial services sector."