Barclays has renewed its title sponsorship of the Women’s Super League (WSL) and Women’s Championship for another three years, in a deal valued at approximately £15 million per year, double the previous arrangement.
This new agreement, which includes investment and marketing, represents the largest deal in women’s domestic football.
The deal is the first major contract secured by Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL), the new company overseeing the WSL. Barclays first became the title sponsor in 2019, and the renewal reflects the growing popularity of the league, with rising viewing figures and match attendances.
WPLL chief executive Nikki Doucet commented on the renewal: “Barclays has been a leading light when it comes to supporting women’s football and they become a founding partner for WPLL as we embark on a transformational journey to grow the game. This record multi-year investment demonstrates long-term commitment and is important because it provides positive endorsement and increased support for what we are trying to accomplish.”
Barclays has also extended its partnership with the Premier League, agreeing to a new four-year deal.
Barclays has revealed plans to shut down 14 more branches across England and Wales in June.
These closures will be in addition to the 55 branches the bank already planned to shut this year, meaning at least 69 Barclays branches will shut in 2023.
Its decision follows that of other major banks, which have axed branches as more people move to online banking.
Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest, HSBC and Santander have all shut down more than half of their branches since 2015.
Barclays will close a further 14 bank branches across England and Wales in June, meaning at least 69 branches will close in 2023
The decision by Barclays to close at least 69 branches before the end of 2023 comes after the bank had already shut 67 per cent of their sites in the UK since 2015.
The move from Barclays means their customers will now need to rely on pop-up sites and ‘banking pods’ if they require in-person support.
These ‘banking pods’ are semi-permanent sites that can be moved across different towns and cities to satisfy demand.
Currently, Barclays has 200 pop-up sites and ten ‘banking pods’, with plans to add another 70 pop-up sites in the near future.
In addition, the bank runs an educational and support van service to provide financial advice to their customers.
A Barclays spokesperson said: ‘As visits to branches continue to fall, we need to adapt to provide the best service for all our customers.
‘Where there is no longer enough demand to support a branch, we maintain an in-person presence though our Barclays Local network, live in over 200 locations, based in libraries, town halls, mobile vans and our new banking pods.
‘We also support access to cash with our cashback without purchase service, 24-hour deposit-taking ATMs and by working alongside the Post Office and Cash Access UK.’
The full list of 14 Barclays branches which will close in June
The Watton, Norfolk, branch of Barclays will close on 3 May after a 64% reduction in counter transactions in the past year.
The bank said it would keep a presence in the town via one of its “community locations”.
Watton’s mayor, Susan Hebborn, said there would be a post office but the rotary club’s secretary was “appalled”
Roy Challand, secretary of Watton Rotary Club, said: “When we moved here 23 years ago, there were three banks and two building societies and now we’re going to have none.
“In that time, however, the town has more than doubled, it just seems crazy.
“I’m quite elderly myself and there are older people in the town who can’t do online.
“Some of us like to use cash and at the rotary club we raise money and that’s normally done by cash transactions, we don’t run around with card readers.”
Image caption, Watton’s Barclays branch, on the High Street, will close on 3 May
It said the number of banking transactions that took place in a branch was less than 10%.
The firm said in Watton there had been a 64% reduction in counter transactions in the past year, compared to the 12 months to March 2020.
It said 86% of its customers at the branch used alternative ways to bank, including via the telephone, online and mobile app.
The company said just 12 regular customers used the branch exclusively for their banking needs and staff would now be getting in touch with regular and vulnerable users.
Ms Hebborn said if there was not enough footfall then Barclays was “justified” in closing.
She said loss of the bank would mean another empty building on the high street but added, “hopefully, that will be short term”.
In response to worries about how the current market upheaval would affect the provision of home loans, the chancellor will meet with executives from lenders on Thursday, including Barclays and NatWest, Sky News has learned.
Executives from Britain’s biggest high street banks have been summoned for talks with Kwasi Kwarteng amid concerns about the impact of recent financial turmoil on the mortgage market.
Sky News has learned that the Treasury has convened a meeting on Thursday at whichthe chancellor is expected to quiz lenders on their plans.
City sources said executives from Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, and NatWest Group were among those expected to attend.
Hundreds of mortgage deals have been pulled or frozen by banks as a result of volatility in how banks price home loans.
The chief executive of the City watchdog told The Sunday Times at the weekend that he wanted lenders to justify the withdrawal of fixed-rate mortgage products.
“If a product is withdrawn for a temporary period, we want to understand when they’re going to come back to the market so that those people who may need to refinance are able to proceed with their plans,” Nikhil Rathi told the newspaper.
eople briefed on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting with Mr Kwarteng said it would also address the economic growth plans announced since he was appointed as chancellor last month.
He has said he will set out plans for a deregulatory drive dubbed Big Bang 2.0 in the coming weeks, with a particular focus on scrapping rules imposed during Britain’s membership of the EU.
None of the banks invited to the meeting would comment on Wednesday.
