Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to close another 95 branches across the UK between May 2024 and March 2027, as reported by BBC Business, continuing a trend of reduced high street presence. The closures, encompassing 53 Lloyds, 31 Halifax, and 11 Bank of Scotland sites, will leave the banking group with 610 branches once the announced closures are complete. This latest announcement is in addition to an ongoing closure program that will see 49 sites shut by October.
A spokesperson for Lloyds stated that the bank offers various options for customers to manage their money, reflecting the changing ways people prefer to bank. The closures are part of a broader shift in the banking industry, with many institutions reducing their physical footprint.
In other news, the US job market saw a surprising surge in January, with employers adding a greater-than-expected 130,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department, as reported by BBC Business. This helped nudge the unemployment rate lower to 4.3%. This growth followed the weakest year for new jobs since the Covid-19 pandemic, with only 181,000 jobs added in 2025. The White House has pushed back against concerns about the job market.
Meanwhile, a "brazen" rail fare dodger, Charles Brohiri, was fined over £3,600 for failing to pay for tickets on 112 Govia Thameslink Railway journeys over nearly two years, as reported by BBC Business. Brohiri, who pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court, was also handed a three-month suspended prison sentence.
In other news, the death of Robert Tinney, the artist whose illustrations defined the look of Byte magazine, was announced. Tinney, who died at 78, created the cover art for the pioneering computer magazine from 1975 to the late 1980s, according to Ars Technica. His vivid paintings helped translate complex topics like artificial intelligence into a visual language for a generation of computer enthusiasts.
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