Metro Bank will open its latest branch on former Somerfield site

Chiswick will soon have a new bank with seven-day opening on the High Road when Metro Bank opens on May 18th.

At a time when most UK banks are either nationalised or shedding staff, Metro Bank, a brash new arrival on the market has chosen the former Somerfield site for its first-ever new build in the UK.

The bank has planned a gala opening on May 18th and 19th, with music, stilt walkers, face painters, performing dogs and entertainment and treats. All dogs are also welcome in stores and staff say the emphasis will be on customer service.

Craig Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer at Metro Bank, said: “We’re offering Chiswick a bank like no other in the area, and we can’t wait to bring the banking revolution to Chiswick.

The bank promises to provide credit and debit cards in 15 minutes and to be more like a shop than a bank. Ten more UK branches are planned in the next two years, and up to 200 in the next ten years. Metro Bank became the first high street bank to launch in the UK in 100 years when it opened its first branch in Holborn in 2010.

One of the bank's founders is American billionaire Vernon Hill, who set up the Commerce Bank in the US in 1973. It went on to become the 18th largest bank in America before he sold it for £6.5 billion in 2008, before the banking crisis. He maintains that the British people are "dying for revolution in the banking business". The English co-founder Anthony Thomson approached Vernon Hill some years ago with the idea of bringing the concept to the UK.

The hours of opening are 8-8 Monday to Friday, with weekend opening of 8-6 p.m. Saturdays and 11-5p.m. on Sundays. The bank will be open 361 days a year.

The bank premises on the High Road comprise a modern two-storey building, with seven off-street parking spaces, including one disabled space, and landscaping at the rear and at the boundary of Brackley Road and the High Road. The shopfront has distinctive,modern glass frontage with red, white and blue signage which will be illuminated at night.

There are an estimated 60 million bank customers in the country and a total of 1.2 million people switch banks annually, many of them citing dissatisfaction with customer service. Metro Bank hopes to change all that.

May 4, 2012