GRAYSHOTT is to lose its NatWest bank on November 11, in a move condemned by local shopkeepers as a blow to local business.
“We are working hard to ensure there are a number of alternative ways for people in the area to continue to bank with us. We have reached an agreement with the local post office, which is 0.1 miles away from the branch so that our customers can check their balance, deposit and withdraw funds, and business customers can get coinage.
“There are five post offices within 3.2 miles of the branch. There are two free to use ATMs within one mile of the branch.”
He added a mobile branch service would be introduced for the area and NatWest would communicate with its customers and the local community to understand the best day and time for it to visit.
NatWest took the decision because the number of transactions taking place at the branch had dropped by 24 per cent since 2011. Only 52 customers used it on a regular weekly basis.
The spokesman added: “Our customers are increasingly using alternative ways to bank with them such as online and mobile banking”
Branch transactions declined by some 36 per cent from 2010 while online and mobile transactions have grown by more than 300 per cent, he said. Only nine per cent of their total transactions are undertaken in branches compared to 25 per cent in 2010.
From November, the nearest NatWest branch will be in Haslemere, which is more than four miles away.
Villagers object that the Grayshott branch is always busy and shutting it will be a major inconvenience to its many local customers and will also have a damaging impact on local trade.
Keith Cox, who owns office supplies shop Business Solutions, said: “I think it’s awful. I’ve banked there all my life and so have my wife and parents, and there is always a queue.
“This is going to stop people coming to the village. It will affect footfall in the shops at what is already difficult time. Grayshott businesses have been through a lot over last eight or nine years with the damaging impact of road closures and the recession.
“I don’t believe only 52 people bank there a week. Lots of people come to Grayshott to go to the bank and also to go to the shops. A lot of older people use the Grayshott branch and they will now have to go to Haslemere.”
East Hampshire District Council leader Ferris Cowper, who is ward member for the village, said: “I’m very disappointed indeed the Grayshott branch of NatWest is to be closed after so many years serving the community.
“The bank states usage of the branch has been very low but funnily enough every time I went there, there was a queue. Nevertheless we live in a use it or lose it society, more examples are buses and libraries, so I suppose it was always likely with just over 50 regular customers per week.
“I’ve asked if the mobile bank visits Grayshott, could it also visit Headley and some other small villages locally to give those residents and businesses a banking service they don’t have today?
“I’m taking a very strong interest in the fate of that key site in the village and as district council leader, I’m doing all I can to ensure if NatWest bank eventually disposes of the site, that the new use will add materially to the economic development and prosperity of the village.”