HSBC branch in Earlsdon set to close its doors in New Year

[dutchman]

A bank is to close a popular branch in the Earlsdon area of Coventry.


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HSBC has confirmed that the branch in the Earlsdon Street row of shops is to close at the end of January. Five members of staff will be offered jobs in other branches, the bank says.

In a statement issued to the Telegraph, HSBC said: “We need to ensure that our branches are in the right locations for our customers and on occasions, this means that we need to close a branch where customer footfall has fallen dramatically or there has been a shift in customer shopping patterns.

“Our branch in Earlsdon is a case in point. Customer usage of the branch has fallen very significantly over the past few years.”

The news follows the bank’s decision to close their Tile Hill branch in 2009. That move prompted an outcry from residents in the area who launched an unsuccessful campaign to keep the Station Avenue branch open.

The five staff members who work at the HSBC in Earlsdon will be relocated to branches elsewhere in the city.

HSBC customers in Earlsdon will now have to travel to the High Street in the town centre to see bank staff in person.

HSBC said: “Customers habits are changing – they are now increasingly using branches where they work, or they are using the 24-hour convenience of internet or telephone banking. Our network has to be ‘fit for purpose’ and we have to ensure that our branches are located in areas where they are used.

‘‘Decisions like this are never easy, but we are working with the small number of customers who use the branch to help them reorganise their finances ahead of the closure on January 31, 2014.”

[dutchman]

I don't trust the internet, I prefer to speak to someone face to face. Fortunately for me I'm with Lloyds who still have a presence in Earlsdon.

Unfortunately for HSBC customers, HSBC would rather use the huge subsidy they receive from the Bank of England to line their own pockets rather than provide a retail service to customers.

Shops in Earlsdon in suffer, some will probably close for good. The former Midland Bank building will probably become yet another trendy wine bar, attracting even more rowdy late night customers from different parts of the city.

[dutchman]

Earlsdon residents fighting to save bank from closure



City leaders are making a last-gasp effort to save a Coventry bank from closing its doors for good.

A petition with more than 600 signatures will be sent to the chairman of HSBC to try to make him change his mind over shutting the branch in Earlsdon Street, Earlsdon.

The bank has announced that the store will cease trading from Friday, January 31.

However Earlsdon ward councillor Michael Hammon, who presented the petition at a full meeting of Coventry City Council on Tuesday, said: “It is almost an insult to the area to close the branch. Many residents and businesses in the area have banked with HSBC for many years.

“We asked them to reconsider the decision as they have a duty to the people in Earlsdon and now I wish for the petition to be sent to the chairman of the bank.”

His wish was granted as his fellow councillors unanimously agreed to forward the petition to bosses at HSBC.

A spokesman for HSBC said: “Our branches are a very important way for our customers to bank with us and we have spent over £100million in recent years upgrading and improving them.

“However we need to ensure that our branches are in the right locations for our customers and on occasions this means that we need to close a branch where customer footfall has fallen dramatically.

“Our branch in Earlsdon is a case in point - customer usage of the branch has fallen very significantly over the past few years.

“Decisions like this are never easy, but we are working with the small number of customers who use the branch to help them reorganise their finances ahead of the planned closure on January 31.

“The five members of staff who man the branch will transfer to our other HSBC branches in the area.”

[dutchman]

Empty Earlsdon bank to become a restaurant

A vacant bank in Earlsdon looks set to be turned in to a restaurant after proposals were approved by planning chiefs.

The former HSBC branch in Earlsdon Street, which has stood empty since closing its doors in January, looks set to have new life breathed into it after the city council agreed to change the use of the premises to a restaurant.

The application was filed by Millsy’s Ltd, which runs the bar by the same name just a matter of yards away from the old bank.

The approved plans include a cooking and preparation area, customer seating area and a smoking area to the rear of the building, as well as a flat-roofed side extension and an outside smoking area.