Arnold’s HSBC branch will still close in May despite pre-tax profits rising at the banking giant.
HSBC previously announced that Arnold was one of 114 branches across the UK that would close from April after blaming the Covid pandemic for a decline in footfall.
Reports say that although pre-tax profits for the whole of last year were 17 per cent lower to £14.5billion, higher interest rates helped the bank’s pre-tax profits jump by more than 90 per cent to £4.3billion in the last three months of 2022.
HSBC said that the selected branches were serving fewer than 250 people a week.
The Arnold branch, based on Front Street, will close its doors for good on May 9.
Branches in Mapperley and Netherfield have also been closed in recent years.
Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s managing director of distribution, said when the cloure was announced: “People are changing the way they bank and footfall in many branches is at an all-time low, with no signs of it returning.
“Banking remotely is becoming the norm for the vast majority of us.
“The decision to close a branch is never easy or taken lightly, especially if we are the last branch in an area, so we’ve invested heavily in our ‘post-closure’ strategy, including providing free tablet devices to selected branch customers who do not already have a device to bank digitally, alongside one-to-one coaching to help them migrate to digital banking.”
When the closures were announced at the end of last year, Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: “Unite is appalled that there will be a further 114 bank branch closures by HSBC. This hugely profitable financial institution is walking away from the customers and communities who most need access to local banking services.
“Unite is calling on HSBC to reconsider these branch closures during the consultation process before they abandon the most vulnerable in our society and leave them without a neighbourhood bank served by experienced knowledgeable staff. Of the total 114 closures proposed today the vast majority (108) of the closures will result in no HSBC branch within 3 miles and it is disgraceful that 25 communities will be left to travel over 15 miles to the nearest branch.”
This is so stupid as people want to come into Arnold and use our shops and places to visit what if tourists want to use cash at the parks and places we have they will not be able to get it. Pleese think again HSBC and save this from leaving our wonderful town as it is the capital of Gedling and we need places like this
We don’t have any in Gedling – not even a post office to do our banking !