Meeting with Barclays’ Head of Corporate Relations, Jonathan Brenchley, alongside the Mayor of Llanidloes, Cllr. Phyl Davies and Cllr. Graham Jones, County Councillor for Blaen Hafren, Russell George AM, Assembly Member for Montgomeryshire sought assurances from Barclays that the bank would remain open.
The branch is currently open every weekday from 10am – 4pm but from Monday 30th November, Barclays intends to reduce its opening hours to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only.
Following the meeting, Mr George said:
“It was important that Barclays management met with us as local politicians to explain their decision and to allow us to seek assurances for the bank’s future.
“It’s disappointing that the opening hours are being reduced, especially given the fact that residents and businesses in the town have already seen the loss of the HSBC and NatWest branches. Barclays did however provide us with confirmation at the meeting that they had no intention of closing the branch.
“I understand that the bank will now open from 10am to 4pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and on weeks when a bank holiday falls, the branch will open on Tuesdays.
“To prevent further reductions in bank opening hours across Mid Wales and to ensure that “over the counter” banking services remain commercially viable in rural areas, I am urging for all banks to explore a new model of community banking which will see them share buildings and services to ensure they continue to serve their customers in rural areas of Mid Wales.”
The Mayor of Llanidloes, Cllr. Phyl Davies added:
“I’m pleased that Barclays met with us.
“During the meeting, we stressed that small businesses, charitable organisations and elderly or disabled residents are the most disadvantaged by bank branch closures and online or mobile branch banking does not always adequately replace permanent “over the counter” facilities.
“The bank gave us assurances that they had no plans to close the branch. This is welcome news especially given the fact Llanidloes has suffered from a series of bank closures in recent years.”