Dudley Building Society launched its new branch in Central Court, Bridgnorth this summer, reversing a trend of closures in the town which has seen both Lloyds and Barclays depart Bridgnorth, to the dismay of the town’s residents.
The High Street branch of Lloyds closed on May 20, around three years after the closure of Barclays deprived Bridgnorth of another town centre bank.
Both banks said the closure was driven by a fall in people visiting branches, preferring instead to use online and telephone banking services.
Now, Dudley Building Society joins HSBC and Nationwide in offering retail permanent face-to-face banking operations in the town, a move which it says will kickstart its effort to deliver rural banking in smaller towns and villages in the Bridgnorth area.
“It really is a milestone, it’s our first new branch in 15 years and a really big step in our strategy to grow our presence on the high street,” said Simon Dodd, the building society’s head of retail operations.
“Part of our strategy is to expand our branch network and we looked at a lot of different locations and obviously we did our research, but as soon as we came to Bridgnorth we got the right feeling.
“It’s such a vibrant community, a prosperous community and somewhere with loads and loads of potential, so we’re really proud to be here and proud to call it one of our homes as we go forward. We’re not just here to serve the people of Bridgnorth but also to support Bridgnorth as well and really see it grow and develop through partnerships with local organisations and supporting local events.”
In an announcement in January, the society said it was planning to open a new branch in the town as part of a plan to expand face-to-face services in Shropshire, with other potential locations in the county, including Shifnal and Claverley, being lined up as possible locations to deliver rural banking services.
Dudley Building Society says it intends to establish a foothold in Bridgnorth for extra services in Shropshire and on the Welsh borders, using what it describes as a “hub and spoke” model to deliver rural banking.
“The opening of our Bridgnorth location is a really big step in our branch strategy and in our approach to branches and hub,” added Mr Dodd.
“Our Bridgnorth location is our hub for this area and that’s somewhere we’ll use to bring in the wider area and the whole community. We’re not just opening our doors in Bridgnorth today, we’re opening our doors to the community and taking our services out to the towns and villages is very important to us.”
