First new bank branch to open as others close their doors
BIRMINGHAM city centre will witness that rarest of sightings this week... a bank opening a new branch.
The first of a wave of Midland bank openings takes place in High Street tomorrow despite the region suffering the loss of more than 230 branches in just four years.
Metro Bank’s first West Midlands branch in Birmingham city centre will also have an in-house ‘university’ for training staff and create 25 jobs. This is the first of four West Midland openings this year, with further branches earmarked for Solihull, Merry Hill in Dudley, and Wolverhampton.
In recent years, Birmingham has seen a string of banks closing branches including Lloyds, HSBC, Halifax, NatWest and Santander.
Which? claimed the West Midlands had seen more than 230 bank branches axed since 2015.
Metro was founded in London in 2010 and was the first high street bank to launch in the UK in more than 150 years at the time.
Its founder is American Vernon Hill, a former fast-food restaurant franchisee who launched a similar challenger bank called Commerce Bancorp, in New Jersey, in the 1970s. It was later bought out and the brand dissolved.
Metro Bank offers retail and commercial banking services, but has no investment arm.
It has 67 locations across London and the South and appears to be swimming against a trend within the sector of closing physical branches rather than opening them.
The new Birmingham outlet will be opened by council leader Cllr Ian Ward and Metro director Rav Bagri, together with branch manager Beth Freeman.
Metro Bank’s chief executive Craig Donaldson said: “I’m delighted we are opening a store in Birmingham, introducing real choice into how people bank.
“Our new seven-day-a-week store will act as a central hub for the local community, hosting regular networking events for businesses, as well as charity and fun-family events for residents throughout the year.”