The Bank of Queensland will slash up to 400 jobs and acquire more than 100 franchised businesses in a restructure its chief executive Patrick Allaway said was aimed at simplifying the business.

The regional lender said its retail banking model was no longer sustainable and that it would bring all 114 owner-managed branch networks into its corporate structure by March, which would cost between $115 million and $125 million over four years.

The owners and employees of the franchised businesses would be given the option to work for the bank, Allaway said in an update to analysts on Thursday.

“We have long recognised the need to address legacy complexity and structural challenges to change the way we do business,” he said before the briefing in a statement to the ASX.

“Through the initiatives we announced today, we are taking a significant step forward in delivering a simpler, specialist BOQ.”

Allaway flagged further “consolidation” of the bank’s branch network if customers continue to shift to digital banking, as well as “more efficiencies” - ie cost savings - over the next two years.

‘Workers are walking around feeling that they have a target on their backs, waiting for the axe to fall on them.’

Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano

The bank plans to make up to 400 full-time roles redundant at a one-off cost of up to $35 million, which is expected to save it $50 million over the next two years.

The latest cuts come on top of the 250 jobs lost in the past year, in a move criticised by the union as a “death by a thousand cuts”. However, the bank has hired 10 bankers in the past six months as part of a strategy to expand its business banking team.