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The idea is not new, but it is really quite simple. You set up local companies based in or
conveniently near to a Branch of the Bank, and offer top notch trustee and
investment advice to your wealthier customers in return for a modest
fee. Helped along by high profile
customers and share issues along the years, Trust Company is a great example
of what Martins Bank can achieve, even though in banking terms Martins is
known as “one of the small six”… One
year after Bristol Trust Company gets up and running, Martins Bank Magazine
pops in to see what all the fuss is about…
 This
journey was really necessary,
for our Trustee Department at Bristol opened on March 1st, 1962, but had not
yet received a visit from us. Other new
offices are also overdue for visits but this was the only one offering a
reasonable chance for a quick visit in early February. So on the second day
of the short-lived 'slow thaw' we decided, after a six-and-a-half hour train
journey, to walk to our hotel through ice and slush. Even in these
conditions, we were impressed by Bristol and the new developments in this hub
of the South West. Mr. Peter Jones and his
wife joined us for dinner and later drove us out to Abbot's Leigh where, in a
charming house in the old deer park on a ridge overlooking the Severn, they
and their two boys have made their new home.
 Mr. Jones
and his wife hail from Aughton and were eager for news of old friends on
Merseyside. Peter G. Jones joined the
Bank at Formby in 1939 and, while a Flying Officer in the R.A.F. in India,
was awarded the M.B.E. for a gallant attempt, in which he received dreadful
burns, to rescue the pilot of a burning plane. He entered Head Office Trustee
Department on demobilisation, going to Newcastle Trustee Department in 1953
and receiving signing authority in 1958. While
one naturally expects enthusiasm in a new office we were impressed by the
sustained energy and enthusiasm of Mr. Jones and his team who must be every
bit as keen now to further the success of their department as they were at
the outset. The old saying 'nothing
succeeds like success' is shown in the atmosphere of liveliness and vigour at
Corn Street which starts at the very top: it must be encouraging to those in
the Trustee Department to know that their interest and optimism are shared by
their District General Manager and by branch managers in the District who are
becoming increasingly 'Trustee and Tax conscious'. Mr. A. R. Harris, who is second-in-command, is a natural
terrier for work. Joining Income Tax Department at Head Office from the
Inland Revenue in 1957, he completed the Institute of Bankers' examinations in 1962 without the advantages of
any branch experience to help him. At the
time of our visit he was coping alone at home, for his wife is still on
Merseyside having recently presented him with a second daughter.
 Mr. R. F. Head, who sportingly
interrupted a short holiday to come in for the day, entered Head Office
Trustee Department in 1959 following National Service. He is a native of
Paignton and studied law at the University of Exeter. Mr. J. E. Slowley is a local boy who entered the Bank in
September last. A Duke of Edinburgh Award winner and a keen Scout, he seems
as determined as his seniors to make a success of his job. Also in the department for a few months' training was Mr.
M. J. Wilson, B.A., a Londoner by birth and graduate of St. John's College,
Oxford, who joined the South Western District under the Graduate Training
Scheme in October 1961. He has already found much of interest in his banking
life and was fully employed assisting Mr. Harris with the rapidly expanding
business.
There are three ladies on the staff,
Miss I. A. Cadogan who entered on January 1st a year ago, Miss C. M. Emmerson
who came in August last year, and Miss A. D. Mullen, the youngest, but senior
in length of service. It was a pleasure to talk to these girls who, with a
combined experience of less than two years, are already prepared and willing
to tackle more than routine tasks and train up newcomers in an expanding but
happy team. It had been snowing when
we left the hotel in the morning and was snowing more heavily as we left
Bristol. In Liverpool too, the slow thaw had exhausted itself and, as we
write, we are back in the grip of winter. But we keep wondering how long the
snow sticks on the roof of 47 Corn Street. Not long, we think, with all that
energy below—unless
the insulation is very good: in which case nobody will be fooled except our
competitors.
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