The broker said it would consider merging branches where it was appropriate to do so

Swinton has completed its planned branch consolidation ahead of its 2014 year-end deadline.

Last July the broker announced it wanted to reduce the number of branches to 400 from 475 by the end of 2014. It now has 398 offices, including 29 commercial branches, with all staff relocated.

The mergers form part of Swinton’s plans to grow its commercial book, create more jobs and start growing again in 2015 after a period of stagnation.

Gillingham is the latest branch to have been closed and merged into the Yeovil office.

The broker is also more than half-way through its 1000-day transformation programme to rebuild the business.

Swinton has been actively consolidating the number of branches, to merge and make larger branches, located in strategic parts of the country – to be within 15km of 90% of the population.