BOQ vows to keep Logan branch open after franchisees pushed out in compulsory ‘buyback’

Angry Bank of Queensland franchise owners are expected to vent their frustrations at today’s annual general meeting in Brisbane about the bank’s compulsory buyback of 114 franchises.

Bank of Queensland Browns Plains has been taken back to corporate control.

The franchise owners of a southside Bank of Queensland branch have left after the bank stepped in and took back control of it last week.

The move on Friday, just days before Tuesday’s annual general meeting, was at the Browns Plains branch which was under the ownership and management of Natasha Hobson and Kerry Menck.

The pair bought the franchise in 2022 as a long-term prospect but were forced out after the bank announced plans in August to bring all owner-managed branches under corporate control by March.

The pair, who cannot speak about the deal due to confidentiality clauses, were part of the bank’s nationwide $125 million plan to buy back 114 branches before March.

Browns Plains BOQ franchise owner Natasha Hobson with her staff on her last day last week. Picture: Facebook

The move has been referred to a “corporate surprise takeover” by the Financial Services Union and was to feature on the agenda at today’s annual general meeting, with some shareholders expected to challenge the cost-cutting plans and recent closures of six branches.

The bank said its plan was an effort to simplify and streamline operations and save money as more customers were using digital services.

But the branch takeover plan sparked significant concern among remaining staff, the Financial Services Union and local communities with accounting firm BDO announcing it would help with a class action.

The union said the move would result in 205 staff losing their jobs and has asked the bank to keep all 785 staff at the 114 owner-managed branches.

The Bank of Queensland Browns Plains branch will remain open despite the corporate control takeover of the franchise last week. Picture: Contributed

More than half of the affected franchise branches have accused Bank of Queensland of breaching franchise codes with BDO offering to help them get better takeover prices.

The Browns Plains franchisees have not joined with the 59 aggrieved branch franchisees and will not be a part of any class action.

Staff at the branch will remain in place until March with the bank vowing to keep it open.

But Financial services Union national assistant secretary Jason Hall said six corporate BOQ branches had already closed this year and there were fears that franchise branches would suffer a similar fate.

He said the union was also concerned about the fate of staff at all branches that will be taken back under corporate control and hoped shareholders would speak about the matter at today’s AGM agenda.

Financial Services Union’s Jason Hall. Picture: Contributed

“The bank is selecting who they want to keep and we expect this to result in 580 of the 785 staff being transferred to the corporate model,” Mr Hall said.

“The union believes this is the bank’s way of rationalising its branch network before closing branches across the country.

“The bank has not disputed this, will not guarantee that these branches will remain open and has said it will continue to monitor and review the network based on customer preferences.

“As we come to Christmas, we remain concerned, and our members remain stressed and worried that they’ll find themselves without a job due to this BOQ corporate surprise takeover.”

Mr Hall said the corporate plan occurred with “little notice” and was a dramatic change to the model the bank had operated under for 20 years with some branches only recently joining the owner-managed model.

Bank of Queensland chief executive and managing director Patrick Allaway earned $2 million. Picture: The Australian

Branches that have closed this year are at Mount Pleasant in Queensland along with Belmont, Hillarys, and Geraldton in Western Australia; Werribee in Victoria; and Tamworth in New South Wales.

The Queen Street branch in Brisbane was transferred from Bank of Queensland corporate management to owner-managed in July with Maryborough in June and Springfield in May.

BOQ staff contributed to the banks $343 million profit this financial year with chief executive and managing director Patrick Allaway earning $2.054 million.

The bank said in a statement that it remained committed to working collaboratively with its owner managers through the “conversion process”.

“Our Browns Plains branch remains open and accessible to our customers,” the statement said.

The bank said the branch would continue to operate under the same hours and offer the same services and the decision “was not made lightly”.

BOQ invited expressions of interest from owner managers and their staff to continue their careers with BOQ Group as corporate employees.

■ Shares in BOQ closed at $6.90 on the ASX yesterday.

Originally published as BOQ vows to keep Logan branch open after franchisees pushed out in compulsory ‘buyback’