Newcastle Building Society has opened its new city centre branch with a plea to other organisations in the area to use its facilities.
The building society has moved from its current city centre site near Haymarket to a building on the corner of Grainger Street overlooking Grey’s Monument. The former French Connection, Boots and Geordie Jeans shop has undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment over the past two years.
As well as a branch offering financial services for customers, a number of community rooms have been created for use by the society and other community groups. The investment in the branch comes against a backdrop of most banks closing branches, especially in smaller towns and suburbs.
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Newcastle Building Society has chosen to oppose that trend with investment in its branches, the opening of some new sites and work to locate branches in shared buildings. The society used to have its headquarters in the city centre, but closed its offices near the Laing art gallery four years ago to move to a single site at Cobalt Business Park in North Tyneside.
The new city centre branch was opened today by North East mayor Kim McGuinness and former Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi, now a trustee at the Newcastle United Foundation.
Andrew Haigh, chief executive at Newcastle Building Society, said: “Face-to-face service is really important and it’s important that we’re here at the heart of the city in a place where people can come. Whether that’s financial advice or something to do with their mortgage or their savings, we want this to be a familiar, friendly place that’s about human contact.
“It’s not about walking through the door and using technology. It’s about meeting people.
“We’re saying that as the country continues to lose more and more bank branches from the high street. We’ve lost 6,000 branches in the last 10 years.
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“This branch is an important statement of our commitment to the city itself. It’s our home city. We did move out of our head office building but we’re back in a reimagined way and we want this place to bring the community and like-minded organisations together.
“This is a space that will belong to our members, to the community, but also to the organisations that we work with, across the charity sector, across local government - really anybody who wants to make positive change happen in the region. We want them to use this space.”
Kim McGuinness said: "I know how important our high streets are for our communities and economy. But high streets are closing down and community focal points are disappearing at too many locations across the North East. Newcastle Building Society are focussed on supporting local communities, not just its customers.
"It is prioritising face-to-face support, and committed to keeping our high streets alive with over 30 branches up and down the north of England. This new flagship branch is exactly what our high streets need: spaces and services to help the communities they serve thrive, and I hope to see more businesses reimagine how they can unlock the potential of high streets across the North East."