Town to lose its last bank as Lloyds closes branch
A WEST Midlands town is set to lose its final bank branch later this year.
Lloyds has announced it is shutting its branch in High Street, Coleshill, on October 15.
It follows the departure of both HSBC and Barclays from that same street on the same day in September 2016.
It will leave the town, which has a population of 6,500 people, with just a Coventry Building Society.
Like many banking groups, Lloyds is currently undergoing a programme of branch closures as more customers switch to digital banking.
Colin Lewis, who runs estate agency House & Home in Coleshill, said it was a great shame for the town.
“There have been banks here for hundreds of years but we lost both HSBC and Barclays on the same day a couple of years ago,” he said.
“A lot of people switched to Lloyds when those two closed but now they have been stung again. It’s a blow.
“The youngsters will be fine as they are used to online banking. I am more concerned about the old people in the town.
“It has been a lifeline for them and we’ve already had some people saying to us ‘Where do we go now?’.
“It’s a problem because many don’t drive. I cannot see another bank coming here to replace those we’ve lost. The old HSBC is now a fish and chip shop and Barclays has become a Costa Coffee.
“It seems these days all these former banks are being turned into eateries.”
The move mirrors closures across Birmingham, with many former bank branches in the city centre now home to cafés, bars and restaurants, including the former Lloyds in Colmore Row which is set to become a craft beer pub.
Lloyds said that 75 per cent of its personal customers in Coleshill already used other branches and ways to bank such as online and telephone banking.