The deputy leader of Gedling Borough Council has written a letter to HSBC asking them to reconsider the closure of a Nottinghamshire branch. Councillor Michael Payne wrote the letter to HSBC's CEO, Ian Stuart, on November 30, following the announcement more than 100 branches will be closed across the country, including the Arnold branch.
In his letter appealing to keep the branch open, Councillor Payne wrote: "Customers at this branch rely on face-to-face services to conduct their banking and pay bills. HSBC's proposal to close the Arnold branch in May 2023 will have a detrimental impact on our local population and the hardworking staff who work in this branch, and will exacerbate problems with social isolation that are already prevalent within society locally and nationally.
"The closure of HSBC branch in Arnold will leave customers within the entire Gedling Borough area without access to a local HSBC branch, instead they will have to travel to your Nottingham, Clumber Street branch. This proposed closure will disproportionately disadvantage older, disabled, financially excluded and socially isolated customers.
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"The closure is being proposed in the midst of a cost of living crisis, when financial concerns are a reality for so many families. I therefore call on you to re-consider your decision to close the Arnold HSBC branch."
Councillor Payne described the decision to close the branch as both "shocking" and "disappointing", especially due to there being no consultation with the local community. He added: "I urge you to listen to the people of Arnold and Gedling Borough and immediately halt plans to close the Arnold HSBC branch."
Following the announcement of the closures across the country, HSBC stated: "The decline in branch use has accelerated so much since the Covid-19 pandemic that some of the branches closing are now serving fewer than 250 customers a week." The bank has found that 97.5% of all its banking transactions are now taking place online.
HSBC UK managing director of UK distribution, Jackie Uhi, said: “People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning. The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we’ve invested heavily in our ‘post closure’ strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking."
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