Councillor urging Santander to reconsider branch closure plan

A COUNCILLOR has hit out at plans to close the Santander bank branch in Hinckley town centre, describing it as a “most-valued facility”.

The Castle Street branch is set to close in July as part of plans to axe 111 branches by the end of August, as the coronavirus restrictions have accelerated a shift towards mobile and online banking.

Hinckley borough and county councillor, David Bill, has written to bosses at the Spanish bank to object “in the strongest possible terms” to the proposed closure, urging them to reconsider.

Cllr Bill, who is a customer with the bank, said: “Being able to speak to someone, as opposed to trying to navigate a computerised system, cannot be overrated in my opinion and I have observed that many useful discussions often follow when making a transaction.

“The staff have friendly and helpful.

“I cannot understand why you are proposing this course of action as on many occasions during the pandemic the branch is so busy that a queue forms outside.

“There will be resentment about having to travel to Nuneaton as transport is not that easy for everyone.”

The Hinckley Santander branch was previously home to Alliance & Leicester and before that to Leicester Permanent Building Society.

Cllr Bill also said in his letter: “We are fighting to save our town centre and this is yet another body blow.

“We will fight on but I have to say how much I personally resent this decision. I urge you to think again.”

Castle Street, the main shopping street in Hinckley, has been hit by several closures since the coronavirus restrictions began, including Thorntons, popular family-run restaurant Café Español and H Samuel always been jewellers. Independent grocers Caves, also on the street, shut down in October 2019.

Prior to the pandemic, Santander said that branch transactions fell by a third over the previous two years.

They declined by a further 50 per cent in 2020, with almost two thirds of transactions now digital. Adam Bishop, head of branches at Santander, said: “Branch usage by customers has fallen considerably over recent years so we have made the difficult decision to consolidate our presence in areas where we have multiple branches relatively close together.

“We will provide every support to customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. “We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible. “We continue to believe that branches have an important role to play and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.” Branches will also be closing in Ashby, Blaby, Oadby, Syston, along with the Horsefair Street and Narborough Road branches in Leicester, while Santander’s corporate offices in Narborough will also be reducing in size.

As part of the national reconfiguration, the group is closing its offices in Merseyside, Newcastle,

London and Manchester, with plans to consolidate its office sites into six main locations and to set up a new head office in Milton Keynes. The branch in Hinckley is due to close on July 29.

The Hinckley Times has contacted the bank for a comment with regard to Cllr Bill’s letter.

Being able to speak to someone, as opposed to trying to navigate a computerised system, cannot be overrated.