Oct 02 - Breaking News: Barclays High Street Branch To Close
After a thorough review of its presence in Gibraltar, Barclays Bank has announced that it will no longer be offering local banking services in the future and that, as from October next year, it will close its Main Street branch.
Numerous redundancies are expected to follow from this. A statement issued by the bank reads:
“Barclays has been reviewing its business in Gibraltar since March 2013. The review centred on the need to ensure that we are offering appropriate services and products wherever we do business, as well as ensuring that there is a clear business case for operating in any given market.
“In July this year, we announced our intention to maintain a presence in Gibraltar but proposed that this would be in a reduced form. Following this announcement, we began formal consultation with the union, Unite. The purpose of this consultation was to consider our proposal regarding the size and shape of the future business, and to explore how to mitigate against the impacts on our staff.
“Following a thorough review process, we have made the difficult decision to scale back our operations in Gibraltar. We will no longer offer local banking services and as a result, by the end of October 2014, the Barclays branch situated on Main Street will close.
“Barclays has not taken this decision lightly nor without due consideration for the impact the decision will have on our customers, clients, employees and more broadly on Gibraltar. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption that will be caused as a result of the changes we are making and the closure next year of the branch.
“We are committed to fully supporting customers, clients and employees through this transition. We are writing to customers and clients immediately to explain the changes that we are making and the decision to close the branch. We will write to each client again in the first half of 2014 to explain how the changes will impact them individually. Until that time, day-to-day banking services and branch counter services will remain unchanged. However, with immediate effect, no new business will be accepted and no new accounts will be opened in Gibraltar.
“Going forward, Barclays will retain a presence in Gibraltar focussed on supporting current lending and larger corporate and intermediary relationships. While Barclays will no longer provide local banking or local counter services, we may be able to offer services to clients that meet our international and private banking criteria.
“We will consult with all our employees regarding the impact these intended changes will have on them and will do all we can to minimise the uncertainty and to support them through this transition.
We have set up a dedicated telephone line to respond to questions from customers and clients: 00 350 2006 7519.
“Accounts held with Barclays Wealth and Investment Management that are provided from another jurisdiction and accounts held at our U.K. Barclays branches, will not be affected by the changes we are making in Gibraltar.”
