By Lawrence White
LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - Britain's Nationwide Building
Society has told all its 13,000 office-based staff to
work from anywhere in the country, in one of the clearest signs
yet firms are making permanent the remote working arrangements
put in place during the COVID-19 crisis.
The lender said on Thursday it will not renew the leases on
three of its offices in its hometown of Swindon in the southwest
of England but will retain its headquarters there along with
other regional hubs.
Nationwide's move goes even further than some British banks
such as HSBC and Lloyds, which have said they
will cut office space but are likely still to require staff to
come in on some days.
The bellwether mortgage lender's decision to slash office
space is a further sign of how companies are taking advantage of
the success of remote working to cut overheads.
Nationwide said it will continue to invest in offices by
installing more collaboration spaces, with fewer traditional
meeting rooms and well-being measures such as quiet areas.
Branch-based staff will still work in those locations,
Nationwide said, with some of their formerly office-bound peers
able to join them.
Britain's second-biggest provider of home loans, Nationwide
competes with high street banking rivals but unlike them is
owned by its customers.
The lender last year offered redundancy packages to around
200 staff with a view to around 100 accepting them, Reuters
reported, as it seeks to reduce costs.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)