Parish council chairman who worked at Lloyds for 29 years makes last ditch effort to save Nailsworth bank from closure

Tony Slater, chairman on Avening Parish Council, said he was “truly saddened” to see the town’s only remaining bank close its doors to the community that it has served “outstandingly” for many decades.

It was announced last year that the Lloyds on Fountain Street would be shutting up for good on March 29, leaving hundreds of residents and businesses without a banking service.

Speaking on behalf of his parishioners, local industry, Nailsworth Town Council and other local parishes, he penned a letter to the bank’s Group Chief Executive with a plea to re-think the closure.

“I am truly saddened at what this once great bank has become,” he told the SNJ. “I worked there for a period during my 29 year career at Lloyds. I have very fond memories of the place and the people.

“I opened my first account when I left school back in 1977 and have been a customer for 40 years. Over the years I worked my way up to become branch manager.

“I think it would be a true shame to see this bank close for good. It’s such an important service for so many people in our community.”

In a letter to Mr António Horta-Osório, Group Chief Executive of Lloyds, he wrote: “Nailsworth is a small but busy rural town serving many local communities.

“As Lloyds is the last bank remaining open in the whole area, it will mean that that customers will now have to travel to banks in larger towns, where there are limited and inconvenient parking facilities.

“Business customers will be especially inconvenienced. Public transport is not an alternative as there is almost none available.

“Avening is a small village three miles from Nailsworth, and like other local villages hosts many small businesses. “While many of their transactions can be carried out online, they need convenient branch banking to manage cash and associated deposits.

“From Avening, it will be a round trip of at least an hour to Stroud, and that assumes a space is available in the nearest car park.

“As an ex-manager within the Stroud group, I fully understand the difficulties of limited footfall in its small satellite branches, but Nailsworth is served by one of your best performing managers, and without that vital personal relationship, your business will surely suffer considerably.

“The branch has served the local community outstandingly over the years, and even with a recently reduced staff levels the team has managed a first class service.

“While understanding that overheads have to be controlled within budgets, the feeling is that you are giving the loyal customers of Nailsworth and the immediate area a major disservice closing this branch.”

A Lloyds Bank spokesperson said: “We have made the difficult decision to close the Nailsworth branch on 29 March 2017.

“This branch has been identified for closure because of the changing way customers choose to bank with us, which has resulted in customers using it less often. “The majority of customers also now regularly use alternative branches or use other ways to bank such as online and telephone banking to complete their banking needs.

“We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause and have informed customers of the closest alternative branches.”

She added: “Seventy-two per cent of our personal customers in Nailsworth use other branches and other ways to bank such as online and telephone banking.

“91 per cent of our personal customers already use other branches, such as Rowcroft Stroud branch.

“There is a very regular bus service to Stroud every 30 minutes, with a journey time of around 20 minutes.

“The volume of customer transactions at the Nailsworth branch reduced last year by 10 per cent and the branch has only 45 regular weekly personal and business customers.

“Customers will have their accounts realigned to Rowcroft Stroud and there will be no other impact to the way they manage their accounts.”