Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Politicians contesting Airdrie bank’s closure
Management talks
Airdrie’s parliamentarians have hit out at a “sham consultation” and vowed to continue campaigning against closure of its Royal Bank of Scotland branch.
Neil Gray MP and Alex Neil MSP had a tele- meeting with bank representatives and made the case for retaining the Graham Street office, due to shut in May as one of 52 closures across Scotland.
Mr Neil declared: “They refused to provide justification for claiming that the branch no longer has enough customers, or to give us figures; they wouldn’t even answer a simple question about how much money it would save.
“The bank has made up its mind to shut the Airdrie branch and there is no way they are going to change it.
“Senior management do not care two hoots for communities like Airdrie. They refused our proposal to copy what Boots did when they shut in Airdrie and provide funding for local investment in new jobs.”
Constituency colleague Mr Gray added: “We waited weeks to get this discussion, and I’m really disappointed with the outcome – it appears the loyal customers and prominent building have not been part of their consideration.
“Suggesting that customers can access services at the Post Office isn’t good enough; it’s already very busy and people use their bank for more than just transactions.
“I don’t believe this closure is justified and we made it clear that we won’t be resting here.”
Bank officials announced in December that the Airdrie branch would be closing, calling it a “difficult decision” and saying: “Transactions in the Airdrie branch have reduced by 33 per cent since 2012, with only 129 customers now visiting the branch on a weekly basis.”
They added 55 per cent now use digital banking and say customers can also use online alternatives.