Britain’s Nationwide Building Society and Santander UK have become the latest banks to take an axe to their office space, cementing remote working arrangements put in place during the Covid-19 crisis.

Nationwide has told all its 13,000 office-based staff to work from anywhere in the country, according to Reuters.

Santander UK said it will close four offices in Bootle, Newcastle, London Portman House and Manchester Deansgate and switch the location of its headquarters from London to Milton Keynes.

The bank also said it would close 111 branches by August, adding that a long-term shift towards mobile and online banking accelerated by the pandemic had prompted the decision.