small towns

People still like a human face, to count their money and be able to pop into a bank on impulse. Small rural towns benefit from the wider impact of these activities on the High Street. These closures are therefore bad news. I wonder if it might be time to think much more creatively about the application of business rates in small towns. I know many local authorities will be worried about any loss to increasingly important business rates, but what price hollowed out rural settlements?? This article tells us:

The announcement came 24 hours after HSBC said it would be shutting another 62 branches this year, on top of 55 already earmarked for closure.

The Yorkshire, Britain’s second largest building society, will quit the current account market in order to concentrate on mortgages and savings. It will also ditch the Norwich & Peterborough brand from the high street, having taken it over in 2011.

The society said the moves were designed to deliver better long-term value to its 3.3 million customers. The group aims to close 20 Yorkshire branches in May, and 28 N&P outlets from September. This would reduce the total number of branches and agencies from 308 to 260.

Chief executive Mike Regnier said: “We believe operating with Yorkshire building society as our sole high-street brand would allow us to run the business more effectively and efficiently, enabling us to deliver better products and services for our members.”

He added that customers’ increasing enthusiasm for running their finances via the internet and mobile phones was a key factor in the move. “We therefore no longer believe it is the right commercial position for us to continue to maintain these 48 branches across the N&P and Yorkshire network.”