Banking jobs threatened in RBS closure
STAFF at Campbeltown’s branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland face losing their jobs next May.
Up to three posts are affected, said a spokesman, from the 73 per cent state-owned bank’s London headquarters, on Wednesday. He said red-ployment might be possible.
South Kintyre councillors have slammed the decision. Councillor John Armour, who is himself an RBS business customer, said he may change banks. He said: ‘Putting pressure on RBS may make the bosses think again about this closure.’
Councillor Donald Kelly agreed and said: ‘Banks such as these are very important for the rural community.
‘We need to retain as many services as possible in Kintyre.’
A number of businesses which did not want to be named spoke out about the closure, including a retailer who does not have a card machine and only takes cash.
The retailer said: ‘RBS says we can deposit cash at the Post Office but its limit is £1,000 a day, and that is not good enough.
‘When I asked my customer relationship manager about this on Friday, he said it was the first he knew about Campbeltown branch closing.’
Another business customer said she had asked her RBS relationship manager about the closure after receiving a letter, signed by the manager, but that person said she did not know of the letter.
On Wednesday, an RBS corporate spokesman in London said that would not be possible as all staff at affected branches were told two weeks before the media announcement.
Last Friday, RBS released a statement to the national media, including the BBC, but only when pressed this week agreed to send the same details to the Courier.
At first RBS made no response to an email sent on Tuesday at 9.06am. The Courier called 24 hours later and the spokesman claimed the same details as were supplied to the BBC had been sent last Friday.
The press release was received a further hour later after two calls.
The release stated: ‘Since 2012 we have seen the way in which people use Royal Bank of Scotland Campbeltown branch change dramatically, with 83 per cent of customers already banking in other ways. Transactions in Royal Bank of Scotland Campbeltown branch have reduced by 38 per cent since 2012 with now only 37 customers visiting the branch on a weekly basis. Our next nearest branch, Brodick, is 47 miles away.’