Branches & agencies
Since the first national lockdown in March 2020, over 500 bank branches across the UK have permanently closed.* At a time when many banks are disappearing from the high street, Hinckley & Rugby Building Society has announced that it plans to keep its branches and agencies open.
The building society, which has seven branches and three agencies across Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire will also be increasing the breadth of services it offers its members. As well as investing in expanding its digital services, a change in branch opening hours from 1 August 2021 will see the introduction of private in-branch appointments. Branches will open between 9am and 2pm every weekday and from 9am to 12pm on Saturdays**. Private appointments will be available from 2pm to 5pm during the week.
While the pandemic has accelerated the move towards online and mobile banking, the reduction of high street banks is not a welcome change for everyone. Colin Fyfe, Chief Executive Officer at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, says:
“We pride ourselves on being a friendly face in the communities in which we operate and it’s really important to us that our members can come and visit us in person. We’re pleased to be able to continue to offer a face to face counter service which offers cash withdrawal and deposit facilities and to be introducing private appointments where our members can talk to our team in confidence about their finances.
“We do recognise that the way in which our members manage their finances is evolving and we want to be responsive to that. While we’ll continue to provide the same range of services that many of our members currently rely on, we’ll also be investing in both our digital services and training for our branch staff to ensure we cater for the next generation of savers and mortgage borrowers.
“As a mutual, our teams are dedicated to giving back to our communities and the change in our opening hours means that we can strengthen our presence outside of our branches and connect more directly with our existing members and members of the future.”
For those who are unable to visit during the new operating hours, members will still be able to contact their local branch by phone until 5pm during the week and between 9am and 12pm on a Saturday.**
To find out more about Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, visit https://www.www.hrbs.co.uk.
**The Swadlincote and Spalding agencies will remain closed on Saturdays, in line with their current operating hours.
