I found myself under attack this week (14th of April) when a letter dropped through the door informing me that my local branch of HSBC was to close on July 12th. To an old timer like me this is comparable to hearing that the Church of England was closing its local branch. I have no doubt that younger people will not have this reaction, they seem to be used to changing banks and shopping round for a better deal but to someone of my generation this is not easy, it takes something really serious to trigger ditching one bank and going to another. In fact, in my case I do so little business in the branch that I can find other solutions. However, my thoughts went immediately, first to the staff who will lose what they must have always believed was a job for life, and second, to traders who have to bank their takings for safe-keeping each day. The effect on them is far greater than any inconvenience that I might suffer.
My first thought was that in these days of financial pressure the banks may feel that they have to cut down on staff and branches but then I went for a bit of a furtle. In February this year HSBC posted a world-wide profit of £13.8 billion (That's right, £13,800,000,000), their UK profits alone were £1.5billion, 17.2% higher than last year. Not surprisingly the directors called this “a year of major progress”. Do they really expect us to believe that they are hard up and we will be sympathetic towards them in their efforts to cut costs? Where does customer service come into this?
In their letter to me they state that “we are constantly evolving and developing our services”. Sorry lads but my translation of this is that you are looking for ways to employ less staff and avoid having to meet the customer face to face as much as possible. They helpfully add that my nearest branch is on Manchester Road at Nelson where I will receive a first class service. I have news for them, as a non car owner who is not as good on his pins as he used to be the major project of getting to Nelson on public transport simply to put a cheque in my account is not an improvement in service. In this I am sure I am not alone.
Insult was added to injury when, in an effort to find a way round my personal problems, I rang the help-line they gave me and found myself speaking to someone in the foothills of the Himalayas whose grasp of English was not as good as they think it is. I won't bore you with the details but after 20 minutes of being passed from one agent to another and repeatedly answering the same 'security questions' I was exhausted and angry. My mind went back to the days when you could walk into your local branch, sit down with the bank manager who had known you for years and sort out whatever business you had at one visit. This of course changed many years ago when the local manager was stripped of his or her powers to give an instant ruling, all decisions were taken anonymously further up the line.
The bottom line is that my bank, in order to make minor savings in the context of their overall profits has reduced my options and condemned me to having to deal with call centres for the rest of my life. This is no improvement and is an attack on my quality of life. In case you are wondering, I decided not to transfer to another local bank because there is no guarantee that they are a permanent fixture. The way the wind is blowing I'll bet all of them are under review. Better to stick with the devil I know and work out my own salvation for myself. I shall survive!
What is now HSBC in Newtown (until July 12th) was of course originally build by the Midland Bank who were taken over by HSBC. The first mention I have of the London City and Midland Bank in Barnoldswick is in the Calf Hall Shed Company minute books for March 12th 1902 when the secretary was instructed to approach them for the terms on which they would take over the company's business. As far as I know this was the date that the premises in Newtown were built. I'm sure that everyone will agree it is one of the best looking buildings in the town and would not disgrace a far bigger city. I have no doubt that the standard of construction is high as well, you only have to look at the quality of the woodwork inside the branch. One wonders what the next use of it will be. I was talking to a lady yesterday and she said that they were usually converted to wine bars or restaurants but is there room for another in Barlick? Perhaps high class apartments? Time will tell but one thing is certain, whatever replaces it will not be of greater service to the town.
My regular readers will know that one of my constant preoccupations is the danger that Barlick could eventually become nothing more than a dormitory town serving larger conurbations. I have a friend in Helmshore, Chris Aspin, and he tells me that this is what has happened there. The first sign that this could be happening is when a town loses core services like branches of banks. My fear is that the closure of HSBC is the tip of an iceberg, the industry trend is towards fewer branches, more telephone and internet banking and loss of face to face contact with staff. Are the other banks guaranteed to survive? On a wider front this is the picture we see in so many services these days, call centres on the other side of the world, the omission of clear contact details and the anonymity of faceless battery hens when we finally manage to contact a human. Can you remember me complaining to the police because when I rang to report an incident I had to explain where Letcliffe Park was? The lady I spoke to at Burnley didn't even know it existed.
These are small things but in the aggregate remind me of the old Chinese torture, death by a thousand cuts. It can only be slowed down if we react by making sure that the services we treasure are used. Support your local shops and council facilities and when you see any proposals to reduce service get on your hind legs and protest! Even in worst case you'll feel better because you did at least try!
The old Midland Bank in Newtown 1982. What a fine building!
