‘The return of cash saved our market town from decline’

Every time she wanted to get out cash, Barbara Porter* had to make her way down a steep hill – and struggle back up again. After the last bank branch closed more than three years ago, her town’s sole cash machine was left to serve more than 8,000 people. Rochford, Essex, was a cash desert.

But the market town has been transformed by a new banking scheme that could also save hundreds of other rural areas and villages from being cut off from cash. Last year, the Post Office opened the Rochford Bank Hub, which offers over-the- counter services and access to basic facilities to customers of 13 major banks.

Richard Fleetwood, the Bank Hub’s postmaster, said the local economy had been rejuvenated now shoppers and small businesses could easily access cash. “Business owners are seeing faces they haven’t seen for years,” he said. “People are coming back into Rochford, rather than being pushed into the bigger towns and cities.

“One customer told us they drive past two branches to get here, because they’re closed every time.”

One local business owner to benefit is Andy Barker, who opened the Market West coffee shop in the centre of Rochford last September. He said: “We’ve noticed a lot more cash going through our tills, especially on market day. The Bank Hub helps us keep enough change in the till and limits how much we have to keep on site.

“We’d be stuck if we didn’t have it – there isn’t anything else around here. Before we opened, we considered going cashless, but many older people around here rely on notes and coins. We would lose those customers.”

Mr Fleetwood added: “The amount of young people using the hub has also increased. For that generation, cash has become a trendy way to pay.”

The number of users has increased since opening; it now completes 600 transactions a week. Five more hubs will open this year, in Acton in London, Brixham in Devon, Carnoustie in Angus, Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, and Syston in Leicestershire.