The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
North-east businesses raise concerns with MSPs
North-east businesses were yesterday given a chance to raise their concerns about the impact of bank closures.
The Scottish Parliament’s economy, jobs and fair work committee held a private meeting in Mintlaw to hear the fears of local firms. A lack of communication before shutting down branches and concerns about using online banking were among the issues brought up.
The Buchan village lost its own bank when Clydesdale pulled out of its base in The Square last May.
Turriff councillor Alastair Forsyth is helping the town’s battle against Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) proposed closure, which is due to happen in June.
Mr Forsyth, a former RBS banker, was representing Turriff Business Association (TBA) chairwoman Marj Chalmers at yesterday’s gathering.
He said: “It is very important the local community has the opportunity to engage with the committees at the Scottish Parliament.
“It is good to be able to get feedback from them so businesses and communities can plan for the future.
“I think it is important we see our local businesses put questions to the committee and the banking sector itself.”
Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin, who is a member of the economy committee, hosted the talks at the Macbi Community Centre, Mintlaw. She said: “We wanted to do something on banking and the decision was that we wanted to look at areas where they have lost the last bank in town. Most of the people said there needs to be something from the regulator when they are the last bank. We talked about the impact of closures on a high street and the impact on other businesses.
“It seems to be rural areas that are losing their banks and it is having an impact on other businesses.”