TSB admit bringing in new manager to help branch closure

TSB brought in extra staff at their Cambuslang branch just weeks before announcing they were pulling the plug, the Reformer can reveal.

Hard-working employees had been encouraged when a manager was installed at the branch, which resulted in better service for customers.

But the bank has now admitted the manager, who brought the number of staff to three, was installed to help deal with the closure.

We can also reveal the branch deals with 500 transactions a week, the equivalent of one every three minutes. However, TSB says that does not represent customer numbers.

The bank was responding to a number of questions from the Reformer.

A source told us footfall at the branch had increased since the third member of staff had been installed around six weeks before the announcement last month.

They said: “Cambuslang has not been given any support. If you’ve got two staff members, you can’t give a full service to customers because you can’t have only one person on the floor.

“They had to send many customers to Rutherglen. It was like the branch was being run down.

“It is a great branch with very loyal customers and they were picking up business after getting the extra body.

“TSB ethos is based on providing a service for the community, and the staff bought into that. TSB want to move to a cashless society. They don’t care about local branches, they want big ones in city centres. They have abandoned Cambuslang.”

The branch, on Greenlees Road, is set to close in June. Under BBA regulations, the leading trade association for the British banking sector, banks must consult with customers once they decide to close a branch, but not before.

A spokesman for TSB told the Reformer they would write to customers no later than 12 weeks before the closure and publish their assessment.

He also said the new manager, who had been moved from another branch, would “help us talk to more customers about their options.”

Carol Anderson, Scotland branch and business banking distribution director at TSB, said: “Our presence and investment in Scotland remains strong and we’ll continue to make banking better for Scottish customers.

“That means investing in the branches that people are using and closing those that people just aren’t.

“We want the right branches in the right places and we’re also investing in our digital services.

“That way, we can continue to offer people the best of both worlds and meet their banking needs.”

Customers will be told they can use branches at Rutherglen or Shettleston or Cambuslang Post Office.