Bank customers urge Barclays to keep face-to-face service in Ellesmere Port

Bank customers gathered to send a strong message that Barclays must reverse its decision to close a face-to-face facility in Ellesmere Port.

Justin Madders, MP for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough, organised a group photo outside Trinity Methodist Church on Whitby Road, where the in-person service is currently delivered.

Barclays had promised the advice centre would provide a long-term alternative following the closure of its nearby branch in March 2023. However, customers have now been informed the Barclays Local service will shut on December 12.

Mr Madders told those present:

“We know banks all over the country are closing down their High Street outlets, but this service is really important for people who can’t or don’t want to use online services or might have a question they can’t ask without a face-to-face appointment.”

He added:

“When they announced they were closing the branch, it was really important they agreed to put this service on at Trinity Church and now they’re closing that too. Well, that’s a promise broken, isn’t it!

“Today’s turn-out shows there are lots of people – more than Barclays are claiming – who use the facility. We want to make sure Barclays gets the message that we don’t want them to abandon our town altogether.”

Once the Trinity Church service closes, Barclays customers will need to travel to Chester or Birkenhead for in-person banking support.

John Quilliam, from Stanney Lane in Ellesmere Port, said:

“We need the service here. We can’t keep going to Chester all the time. A lot of older people don’t know about online banking.”

Fellow customer Jane Miller, who lives near the town centre, said: “The bank is treating its customers with utter contempt. They seem to have forgotten whose money it is. It is not their money, it is our money, everybody here, and quite frankly it’s beyond the pale.”

Colin Brothwood, from Parklands in Ellesmere Port, added:

“If people go to Chester for their banking, all the local businesses here are going to lose out.”

Barclays said visits to the site had declined. But Mr Madders, who has written asking the bank to revisit its closure decision, said the facility was both valued and affordable given the bank reported £5.2bn half-year profits.

In a letter to the MP, Barclays said:

“We regularly review our services and adapt to demand. As customers increasingly choose to bank digitally or through alternative in-person services such as Shared Banking Hubs, visits to our Local sites have decreased.”

Pictured - Justin Madders MP with disgruntled bank customers outside the Barclays Local facility, based at Trinity Methodist Church in Ellesmere Port, which is due to close on December 12th.