11-01-90 Stockton Heath

Stockton Heath is opened in 1968 as a sub branch to Warrington, and as part of Martins Bank’s commitment to the opening of profitable high street outlets, the new branch is rubber stamped as viable by Barclays, and stays open until June 2019. We have already seen elsewhere in the Online Archive that many of Martins’ newer branches are not so fortunate, being of no further use to their new owner, and are closed at or before the merger.

In Service: 1968 to 14 June 2019

Image © Barclays Ref 0030-2787

In 1968 you can use Stockton Heath branch six days a week, but 1969 brings a change to opening hours that sees Saturday banking axed, only to be brought back again in 1982 by Barclays. Times change, and Martins’ pride in serving customers at open counters without bandit screens has to be swallowed as more and more armed bank raids spoil things for everyone. This is because they don’t only damage lives, but WAYS of life too, and the days of the customer and the cashier being in two separate worlds are here to stay. – What next? Computers on counters telling cashiers how to think, and what to say and do? No… Then no counters, and just a row of machines? Surely not…