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by Lib Dem team on 8 July, 2021
We have received the following email from Nationwide. Please let us know if this will affect you.
After careful consideration Nationwide Building Society has made the decision to close our Cheadle branch at 18 High Street on Thursday 30th September.
Branches play a vital role for our members and the communities in which they live. That’s why we extended our promise originally made in 2019 to leave no town or city where we currently have a presence without a Nationwide branch until at least 2023. We’ve committed to maintaining a strong network, upgrading over 240 branches and investing over £225 million since 2017. That’s a vastly different position from many of our competitors who continue to close significant numbers of branches. To put this into context, between 2015-2020 our network reduced by around five per cent compared to a sector average of 32 per cent.
However, for branches requiring significant investment and where there are modern branches nearby, we must consider whether it is in the interest of our wider membership to keep them open. We need to determine whether it makes more sense to use that money to improve and retain branches elsewhere in our network, particularly in areas where there is lower provision.
This is the case with Cheadle where we have five branches in a six mile radius, we know that 79 per cent of members are already using other branches and only two per cent of members use the branch exclusively and frequently.
Locally, we’ve invested in our branch in Stockport to bring it up to date, ensuring people in the area have modern branches with the latest technology and services. This means we can focus on delivering better services that will provide our members with the best face-to-face experience and help to protect our branch network in the long term.
We would like to encourage any member who needs any support to contact their branch to talk through their options in more detail. Members can call us on 0345 266 0784 or email garry.samsonoffice@nationwide.co.uk. In addition to this we will be holding a ‘tea and tech’ event on 9th September to help members explore online services, anyone interested can speak to our colleagues in branch or call the number above to book the session.
We never take a decision to close a branch lightly and only go ahead after it has been thoroughly assessed to ensure it is the right decision for all our members. We are now focused on doing as much as we can to help those members who may need additional support. As part of this programme of work we will:
Not surprised. I have been a customer of Nationwide for decades and when I did use the branch it was as little as possible due to poor service. Have not been in there or any bank branch for a few years.
Looked like Santander closed on Friday so Nat West is the last bank standing in addition to the Post Office of course.
Progress I suppose……Room for another takeaway, perhaps?
And then there was one ..
Closed my account with them (savings) Will be closing account with Santander who have left the village also . My loyalty will be completely with Nat West who I been with for 47 years. Support local shops and local banks it’s not all about customers are now using online more. It’s more about banks making more money from less staff and less rented premises.
Yet one more empty premises on the High Street. The queues outside the Nat West will grow even longer and Cheadle residents will have to travel further and at greater inconvenience to do their banking and shopping. Thank heaven for the Post Office!
I will be very sorry to see Nationwide in Cheadle close – lovely, helpful staff – hope they have all found positions elsewhere and have not lost their jobs.
Hopefully the empty unit will not become yet another food takeaway ! Xxx
I haven’t been in the Nationwide B S for many years, mainly
because of low interest rates and that I am fortunate in having paid off the mortgage
I feel sorry for those who are not computer literate or elderly as when a branch closes it means farther to travel, which makes the journey stressful.