Lloyds have announced that the Marlborough branch will be closing on Monday 25 November. Details of the closure, answers to questions from customers and information regarding how to proceed in future without the local branch can be accessed by clicking here.
Once, quite a few years ago Marlborough’s High Street was a bustling melange of shops – of all sorts – traditional long-standing pubs, bookmakers (because of the thriving racing industry in and around the town), and banks. Every bank had a branch here, as did every major (and many minor) bookies, a ‘Woollies’ and pubs such as the long-forgotten ‘Jolly Butcher’, as well as the Wellington, Royal Oak and Green Dragon which have survived across those years.
Now the last (High Street) bank branch will be closing so what do customers do? Lloyds customers will have to do what the Barclays, HSBC and other bank customers have had to do over recent years, which is (mainly) go online, but for face-to-face requirements travel to either Devizes or Swindon. Click to see the attachment above.
Marlborough isn’t alone, many towns of varying sizes have already lost their banks. There was talk, some while ago of every ‘bankless’ town having a ‘banking hub’, where customers of any brand bank could visit to conduct their business. We – marlborough.news – are asking that question and when we get a reasonably definitive answer we’ll publish and let you all know.
Is this a shock? Yes, but a surprise, No. Lloyds were inevitably going to follow Barclays, HSBC and Nat West. As for retailers and other businesses, who still use cash and accept cheques, and (probably) need to discuss their account(s) with a member of the bank’s team, what do they do?
“As a retailer that still accepts cash (I know, how old fashioned!) it is frustrating as you can’t get that “online” said one business owner when asked that question by marlborough.news, adding “As a member of Marlborough High Street, I worry about the gaping hole that they will potentially leave us with in these tricky times”.
That raises the question about the premises. The Lloyds Bank building is an imposing structure, almost dominating the middle of the upper side of the High Street. Proudly displaying the dates ‘1677 – 1929’:
One comment (from someone unnamed) was that ‘the bus stop is convenient, right outide, customers can easily jump on the bus to Swindon to go to the Lloyds there’. Not a good suggestion as a two minute venture into the Marlborough Lloyds could turn into a 3 hour return journey to one of the Swindon branches.
When we hear more, we’ll let you know.
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