Finding new uses for shops and other public buildings could be key to maintaining the UK's High Streets, research from Newcastle Building Society suggests.
The North East mutual, which has widely talked up its efforts to bring services back to the High Street, commissioned the survey of more than 2,000 people around the country which revealed 80% of people found face-to-face customer service important. At the same time, just over half (52%) of respondents said a bank or building society branch near them had closed recently.
The Society said "multi-purposing" - a trend of mixing retail locations with services - could be a potential solution to the problem. Its survey found more than 50% of people had noticed the trend which has seen post offices double as shops, convenience shops used for parcel drop offs and collections, and supermarkets hosting pharmacies. And just under half would like to see more of it.
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Since 2015, about 4,000 UK bank and building society branches have closed, and a further 220 are due to shut this year. Newcastle Building Society's response has been to open hubs within other local amenities - the latest being a branch within Knaresborough library that follows similar models elsewhere in North Yorkshire and Northumberland.
The mutual's chief executive Andrew Haigh previously told Business Live: "We need to come up with a very different idea of what a branch is and what a branch does." And another similar hub is planned in Tynemouth, where the society's team is in talks with North Tyneside Council to incorporate a branch within a new library and community hub.
The 49% of people who said they would like to see more multi-purposing of services under one roof cited the need to keep shops and services (58%), and to keep the local area vibrant (57%) as their main reasons.
Stuart Miller, chief customer officer at Newcastle Building Society and board member of the High Streets Task Force, said: “High streets are a vital part of local communities and it’s clear that people have noticed an increase in multi-purpose services. Faced with rising costs and with such a strain on household budgets I can’t think of a more important time for people to have access to face to face financial services on our high streets.
“Our innovative new branch in Knaresborough library follows success with a similar model in towns like Yarm, Hawes and Wooler, where we’re working collaboratively with councils and other organisations to maintain access to financial services in our communities. High streets don’t stay still. They are constantly evolving, and the most vibrant high streets are those that respond to local need, are multi-functional and remain open to new thinking for the benefit of their communities.”
Earlier this week it was announced that more banking hubs – in which banks share one premises in communities where branches have all shut - will be open. 25 of the hubs are now planned, though none are in the North East.
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