Ruth Cadbury Fears Chiswick Will Become Bank-free Town
MP presses NatWest and Lloyds on branch closure plans
The NatWest and Lloyds branches on Chiswick High Road
November 30, 2023
Ruth Cadbury, the MP for Brentford & Isleworth, has raised concerns about Chiswick becoming a ‘bank-free town’ following the announcement of two closures recently.
She made the comments after the decision by Lloyds and NatWest banks to close their adjacent branches on Chiswick High Road.
This comes after closures of Barclays, Santander and Halifax branches in recent years and the MP says her constituents have been writing in about the issues they face with a lack of access to physical banking services. Ms Cadbury has requested to meet with representatives of Lloyds and NatWest.
The banks justify their decisions on the reduction of walk-in customers, but she Is concerned about the estimated 30% of people who cannot use on-line banking, and businesses who need to drop off and pick up cash. NatWest claimed in a report to the regulator that its Chiswick branch only had two regular personal customers but did not respond to our request to explain how this figure was calculated. Neither bank has confirmed how many jobs will be lost as a result of the closures.
Both banks say that their customers in Chiswick will be able to use branches in Ealing and Hammersmith but there is no guarantee that these will remain open. There is also the new banking hub on Acton High Street and limited Post Office provision in the area, but these do not provide all the services of a full bank branch.
Ms Cadbury said, ‘‘I’m very concerned to hear that the branches of NatWest and Lloyds on Chiswick High Road are set to close, not long after the Halifax closed.
“Santander in Chiswick, and Barclays in both Brentford and Chiswick have also recently closed. Having heard from local residents about this, I know the serious impact that this will have on them and on nearby businesses. I fear that Chiswick could soon be a bank-free town as Twickenham now is. I have written to both banks and hope to discuss my concerns further.
“I know that this news will be very worrying and lead to significant disruption. Measures in place to reduce the impact of branch closures do not provide adequate support to residents and local businesses, and especially to those with disabilities who should not be disadvantaged by commercial decisions.
“Physical banking services are vital and these closures also continue to add to the strain on high streets. I have raised this wider issue with the Government and will make sure that the concerns of local residents are heard.’’
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
