One of the UK’s leading building societies is to close four of its estate agency-only  branches.

Nottingham Building Society, which has followed a strategy of opening high street offices that offer savings, mortgages advice, property and financial planning services under one roof across Nottinghamshire and Bedfordshire, has announced that its estate agency-only branches in Bushmead Luton, Duston, East Hunsbury and Northampton are to close.

The building society has spent the past five years doubling its branch count from 32 to 60 but says the “challenging estate agency market” has lead to the decision.

The closures affect two of its property brands, Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray and approximately 41 staff now face going through a consultation process.

“It is with sadness that we are proposing the closure of a small number of our agency branches,” CEO David Marlow (left) told local media.

“The decision on whether to close a location is never an easy one however as a mutual organisation we sometimes have to make difficult decisions about where we invest in members’ interests for the long-term success of the society as a whole.

“We are not immune to the challenging agency market, which has already impacted some of the biggest industry names, and where an estate agency branch is not profitable or performing at a loss, and lacks the potential to contribute to our membership growth we have had to make the difficult decision to consider closure.”

But the building society says it has not ruled out talks with interested parties to acquire the branches earmarked for closure.