Closure of Pershore's HSBC branch a 'sad loss' says town's mayor - The Evesham Observer

Closure of Pershore's HSBC branch a 'sad loss' says town's mayor

Evesham Editorial 4th Aug, 2016 Updated: 20th Oct, 2016   0

THE MAYOR of Pershore has described the closure of HSBC’s High Street branch as a ‘sad loss’ for the town.

The High Street bank will be shutting its doors on Friday, October 21 following a review by the banking giant of their branch network in the UK after seeing a 40 per cent drop in footfall to their branches in the past five years.

Bosses have said the drop has led them to making ‘difficult decisions’ to close branches, but said customers will still be able to carry out their day-to-day banking at the Post Office in Pershore. Or they will have to visit branches in either Evesham or Worcester.

Coun Bob Gillmor told the Observer: “I’m very disappointed they are planning to close. The letter I had said we can continue banking at the Post Office. But the Post Office is already busy and it will just make it worse.




“In a way it is a sign of the times. I’m disappointed we are losing a major banking institution from the town.

“It’s a sad loss. But we live in hope something will be done about it. Hopefully we won’t be left with just one bank in the town,” he added.


HSBC will be shutting 100 branches across the country this year alone, with the UK’s biggest bank also citing that 93 per cent of their customers now use internet, smartphone, and telephone banking as another reason behind their branch closures.

Staff at the branch, who are set to lose their jobs, could be ‘redeployed’ to other branches, HSBC has also confirmed.

A HSBC spokesperson said: “We continually review our branch network to make sure our branches are in the right locations for our customers and we have a sustainable network for the future.

“Over the past five years, we have seen an overall reduction in footfall at our branches of more than 40 per cent and sometimes we have to make the difficult decision to close branches.

“These are not decisions we take lightly and we work closely with those impacted, including customers and staff, to help them understand their options.

“We understand branch closures may cause concern for some of our customers.

“We have put in place a number of measures to help, including a partnership with the Post Office, so our customers can still carry out their day to day banking.

“Any employees directly impacted by the closure of the branch can be redeployed to other branches.”

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