A banking hub is set to open at a former estate agent premises in the centre of Horwich. The former Miller Metcalfe offices on Winter Hey Lane will become a banking counter service operated by the Post Office, where customers of all major banks and building societies can carry out regular cash transactions.
Earlier this month, a temporary banking hub opened in Horwich, which has a population of around 20,000, after it was announced that the town was losing its final bank branch, a NatWest. The hub also offers a community banker service, where customers can talk to their own bank about more complicated issues.
Community bankers will work on rotation, with a different bank available on each day of the week. Presently, on Mondays Barclays operate form the premises, NatWest staff will be there on Tuesdays, Wednesdays will see Halifax services offered and Thursdays Santander staff will be there.
Cash Access UK, who have set up the hub, have now confirmed it intends provide a permanent home for the banking hub at the the nearby Miller Metcalfe offices. A design and access statement in support of the change of use application said that as the Winter Hey Lane building was within the Horwich town centre heritage conservation area, care would be take with any changes.
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The report said: “Changes proposed as part of the property’s conversion from vacant to banking hub function includes replacing any existing Miller Metcalfe branding with heritage aesthetic styled signs. These additions are very much in keeping with the character of the area and the historical character of the building and will have very little impact on surrounding properties.”
Earlier this month, Gareth Oakley, CEO at Cash Access UK: “I’m happy to announce today that we are opening the temporary banking hub in Horwich. It means that local customers and businesses can access cash and face-to-face services, while we progress the permanent home.”
Cash Access UK is a not-for-profit company owned and funded by nine major banks. They provide shared services – available to the customers of the nine firms, in communities where they are needed most.
An estimated five to six million adults in the UK say they rely on cash in their day-to-day lives and that digital or online solutions don’t yet work for them.
Bolton Council will now consider the change of use application.
