Metro Bank is cutting a fifth of its workforce and reviewing whether to stay open seven days a week under plans to slash costs.
The troubled high street lender said the moves were part of plans to ramp up cost savings to £50million a year, up from £30million previously guided for.
It said it was in talks with the City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), about the changes planned to its branch opening days and extended store hours.
The cost-cutting comes after MetroBank shareholders on Monday approved a funding package worth £925million to safeguard its future on Britain’s high streets.
Shareholders gave the green light to a capital fundraise which will see Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal become a majority shareholder in the group with a 53 percent stake.
Daniel Frumkin, chief executive at Metro Bank, said: “The uphold shown from our investors through this transaction will allow Metro Bank to speed up its growth plans, with the new capital allowing us to unlock the potential in the business and deliver sustainable profitable returns as we endeavor to be the number one community bank.
“We remain committed to stores and the high street but will transition to a more cost-efficient business model while remaining focussed on customer service.
“These actions alongside other initiatives to reduce costs are expected to deliver savings of up to £50million per year on an annualised basis.”
The proceed will see the challenger bank, which currently employs 4,266 people, axe around 850 jobs, reducing “roles across the organisation, including at senior leadership level”.
The group insisted on Thursday that cost-cutting will not affect its growth and that it still plans to open around 11 sites, largely across the North of England, by the end of 2025.
Metro Bank was set up in 2010 as a challenger to the regular banks.
At the time, regulators had been pushing for more competition in the market in the wake of the financial crash, allowing Metro Bank to become the first new high street bank in the UK for more than 150 years.
The strategize was to open between 200 and 250 branches in Greater London within the decade. It now has 76 branches across the UK, and 2.7 million customers.
These ambitious goals faced a setback in 2019 when the bank had to turn to shareholders to raise £350million after it discovered a miscalculation in its books.
