SWANSEA: Santander wants to turn its Union Street branch into a Work Café, with free desks, Wi-Fi and coffee for anyone who walks in

Santander is planning to turn its Swansea branch into somewhere you can work all day for free, whether you bank with them or not.

A planning application received by Swansea Council on 8 September seeks permission for new signs, a screen and window graphics at 1 Union Street, showing the branch rebranded as a Santander Work Café.

The bank has confirmed Swansea is on its list. “Planning applications are being submitted at sites across the network, including Swansea,” a spokesperson said. “Any new sites for 2027 will be confirmed, along with official opening dates, following the completion of the planning application process.”

That puts a Swansea opening no earlier than next year, and dependent on the council’s decision on the signage.

What a Work Café is

Santander runs seven at the moment, in Milton Keynes, Leeds, Oxford and four in London, and is opening six more this year in Birmingham, Leamington Spa, Belfast, Manchester and two already open in Leeds and Canary Wharf. Swansea would be the first in Wales.

Each one keeps a full bank branch inside it, with staff for personal and business banking. Around that, there are shared desks with free high-speed Wi-Fi and no time limit, which anyone can use without an account, first come first served.

Meeting rooms with screens and video conferencing are free to Santander and TSB customers for up to two hours. Food and drink come from a local café partner, with 30% off barista drinks for anyone paying with a Santander or TSB card, and the space hosts free talks and events.

The bank describes the cafés as “an important part of how we are using our branch space differently to support customers, businesses and local communities”, part of a £17m investment programme in 2026.

No closures until 2028

The statement also carried a commitment on the rest of the network: Santander is “maintaining our current branch network, with no additional closures until at least 2028”, while it assesses further Work Café sites.

That matters in a city that has watched banks leave. Lloyds closes its Gorseinon branch on 12 October, with a banking hub opening in the town first, and TSB’s name is due to disappear from Swansea and Llanelli as Santander folds it into its own brand after the £2.9bn takeover completed in April.

For TSB customers, that integration is what would give them the Work Café’s meeting rooms and discounts when it opens.

The application, for the signs only, does not say when work would start. The council’s decision on it is the next step.

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.