The closure of bank branches across the country is bad news for customers, businesses and their communities. Q Commercial Finance director Steve Parry explains why the personal touch will always matter at Q.
Here is a truly depressing statistic for you.
Since 2015, almost half of all the bank branches in the UK have closed.
Figures from consumer champion Which and ATM network LINK show that the number of branches across the country has fallen from 9,807 in 2015 to 4,685 this April – with a further 226 branches to close by the end of the year.
That means that whole towns are now without a single branch of any bank. Communities have to rely on supermarkets and petrol stations for cash machines and the days of being able to talk to your own bank manager are long gone.
For businesses, this is a particularly heavy blow – because in years gone by the local branch was a vital point of contact with someone who knew your business, understood your ambitions and wanted to work with you to realise your goals.
That’s why, here at Q, we are doing everything we can to fill the gap being increasingly left by the high street banks and keep the personal touch alive.
Doing business face to face is hardwired into our DNA. Getting to know you, your business and where you want to take it is integral to the way we build our long-term partnerships.
Being a part of the business community alongside you – attending networking events, workshops, seminars and social functions – means we understand your concerns and have a clear picture of the financial ecosystem in which you operate.
And being able to work consistently on a one-to-one basis with you means that you’ll always be in the hands of a trusted partner and not just a faceless individual at the other end of the phone, who may well change from month to month.
That means when we offer you advice or a financial solution, it’s tailor-made for your circumstances and fine-tuned to get the results you want – not an off-the-peg standardised offer being touted to all and sundry.
It’s an approach which is already bringing results for our teams at Wellington and Shrewsbury. We have hundreds of businesses which now allow us to act as their relationship manager, sounding board or confidante and are reaping the dividends as a result.
Nobody should be surprised. It’s people who do business, not automated machines.
And whatever the future brings, you can always be guaranteed that the personal touch will remain at the heart of Q’s philosophy.
