Business
Virgin Money To Close 31 Branches Across Scotland And North Of England
Virgin Money to close 31 branches across Scotland and north of England
Move to cut one in five outlets means bank has more than halved number of branches since 2018
Virgin Money has announced it will close 31 branches – almost all in Scotland and the north of England – in the latest stage of the UK banking sector’s retreat from the high street.
The bank said it expected to make 112 jobs redundant because of the closures after the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the shift to online and mobile app-based banking, a move that has rapidly reduced the profitability of physical bank branches.
Since the start of the pandemic HSBC, TSB and the Co-operative Bank have all closed branches, raising concerns about access to cash during lockdowns from the Financial Conduct Authority and consumer groups.
The latest closures represent almost a fifth of Virgin Money’s branches, meaning the bank will have only 131 left, down from 245 when it merged with Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank in 2018.
Twelve of 55 branches will close in Scotland, while nine of 35 will close in Yorkshire, with the rest scattered across the north-east, north-west and the Midlands. No branches will close south of Nuneaton in Warwickshire.
The concentration of branch closures in Scotland and northern England reflects Virgin Money’s roots in Clydesdale and Yorkshire as well as the former Northern Rock, whose branches Virgin took over in 2011. Northern Rock was nationalised in 2007 after a run on the bank as people rushed to withdraw their money at the start of the financial crisis.
Bank branch closures tend to be controversial because of the needs of generally older customers who are not able to manage their finances online.
However, Virgin Money argued that customers who previously relied on the branches will be able to use post offices for day‐to-day banking, including cash deposits and withdrawals, cheque deposits and balance inquiries, as well as coin exchange.
It said 28 of the 30 customer branches closing were located less than a third of a mile away from the nearest post office.
Fergus Murphy, Virgin Money’s group customer experience director, said: “As our customers change the way they want to bank with us and conduct fewer transactions in-store, we must continue to evolve the role of our stores into places where we showcase our products and bring our digital services to life.”
The bank said it intended to find alternative roles for some affected staff, either in nearby branches or other group functions.
The latest branches closures
Airdrie
Grantham
Northallerton
Ashton-Under-Lyne
Keighley
Newcastle, Northumberland St
Banchory
Leeds, Horsforth
Nuneaton
Beverley
Leeds, White Rose
Oban
Blackburn
Lincoln
Portree
Broughty Ferry
Macclesfield
Selby
Chesterfield
Mexborough
Sheffield, Meadowhall
Cumbernauld
Milngavie
Stenhousemuir
East Kilbride, Princes Square
Musselburgh
Whitby
Galashiels
Nelson
Wick
Gosforth (a branch for employees only, located in an office)
Business
TCN announces outages in Enugu, Abuja

The Transmission Company of Nigeria has announced that there would be electricity outages in parts of Enugu State and Abuja, respectively, due to maintenance of its Kubwa and New Haven Enugu 132/33 kilovolt substations.
The spokesperson of TCN disclosed this in a separate statement released on the agency’s X account on Tuesday.
According to TCN, the scheduled Enugu-New Haven maintenance would take effect from October 22, 2025, to Thursday, October 31, 2025, between 9:00am and 5:00pm daily.
Consequently, TCN stated that there would be disruption of bulk electricity supply to one 33-kilovolt feeder per day on a rotational basis during the period.
“TCN wishes to clarify that this is not a total system shutdown for Enugu State. To minimise disruption, the work has been carefully planned to affect only one 33 kV feeder per day on a rotational basis. Given that Enugu State is supplied by twenty-four (24) 33 kV feeders, this arrangement ensures that most parts of the state will continue to receive a power supply while the maintenance is ongoing.
“The exercise requires the temporary isolation of specific 33 kV feeders to ensure the safety of TCN technical crews and the protection of equipment under maintenance.
“Consequently, customers in areas served by these feeders will experience power interruption only on the day their specific feeder is isolated,” the statement reads.
In Abuja, the disruption, which is expected to take effect on 21st October 2025, would affect areas in Kubwa, including Army Resettlement, Papal Ground, Aso Garden, Nydren Supermarket, Back of AT4, Back of Mobil, Zenith Bank, FO1, Kubwa Extension, Chikakore Community, Dantata Estate, IITA Farms, Royal Champion Church, the Kubwa area and environs.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) notifies the public of scheduled preventive maintenance at the Kubwa 132/33 kV Transmission Substation on October 21, 2025, from 11 am to 3 pm.
“The exercise will involve the replacement of a 33 kV circuit breaker with a new one and will require an interruption of bulk power supply to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) from Kubwa Substation,” the statement reads.
Business
FG, States, LGs Share N2.103trn September 2025 Revenue – FAAC

A total sum of N2.103 trillion, being September 2025 Federation Account Revenue, has been shared to the Federal Government, States and the Local Government Councils.
The revenue was shared at the October 2025 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja.
The N2.103 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N1.239 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N812.593 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N51.684 billion.
A communiqué issued by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) indicated that total gross revenue of N3.054 trillion was available in the month of September 2025. Total deduction for cost of collection was N116.149 billion while total transfers, interventions, refunds and savings was N835.005 billion.
According to the communiqué, gross statutory revenue of N2.128 trillion was received for the month of September 2025. This was lower than the sum of N2.838 trillion received in the month of August 2025 by N710.134 billion.
Gross revenue of N872.630 billion was available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) in September 2025. This was higher than the N722.619 billion available in the month of August 2025 by N150.011 billion.
The communiqué stated that from the N2.103 trillion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N711.314 billion and the State Governments received a total sum of N727.170 billion.
The Local government Council received N529.954 billion, while the sum of N134.956 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting State as derivation revenue.
On the N1.239 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N581.672 billion and the State Governments received N295.032 billion.
The Local Government Councils received N227.457 billion and the sum of N134.956 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.
From the N812.593 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N121.889 billion, the State Governments received N406.297 billion and the Local Government Councils received N284.408 billion.
A total sum of N7.753 billion was received by the Federal Government from the N51.684 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), the State Governments received N25.842 billion and the Local Government Councils received N18.089 billion.
In September 2025, Import Duty, Value Added Tax (VAT) and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) increased significantly while Companies Income Tax (CIT) and CET Levies decreased considerably. Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) increased Marginally while Oil and Gas Royalty and Excise Duty recorded marginal decreases.
Business
FG finalises N4trn bond plan to clear GenCos’ debts

The Federal Government has announced that it has finalised a comprehensive plan to deploy N4 trillion in government-backed bonds to settle verified arrears owed to power generation companies (GenCos) and gas suppliers.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
She explained that the bonds form part of an initiative approved by President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council, designed to tackle long-standing structural challenges in Nigeria’s power sector and foster an environment conducive to substantial private sector investment.
She stated that the agreement was reached during a high-level meeting attended by the duo of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and the Minister of Power, Chief Bayo Adelabu.
The meeting focused on reviewing and finalising settlement modalities, with a consensus to engage in bilateral negotiations aimed at designing comprehensive settlement agreements that are sustainable within Nigeria’s fiscal realities and the financial constraints faced by GenCos.
Verheijen emphasised that the intervention represents the largest-scale debt resolution effort in more than a decade.
The move seeks to eliminate legacy debts that have stifled growth in the sector, strengthen the financial standing of utility companies, and enhance the reliability of power supply nationwide.
According to the statement, “This is a major step by the federal government towards restoring financial stability and investor confidence within Nigeria’s electricity market.”
The statement added that the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s strategic vision of modernising the electricity infrastructure by improving grid systems, expanding distribution networks, and scaling embedded generation, with the aim of creating a favourable environment for sustainable growth and private investment.
This development follows the April 2025 warning by GenCos threatening to shut down the country’s power sector over N4 trillion in unpaid legacy debts.
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