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In Service: From 1957 until date of closure (unknown) Branch Images © Barclays Ref: 0030/0405 |
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Here is a lovely view of old Bristol from the late 1950s
– Martins Bank’s brand-new branch at Broadmead. By the end of the decade the South Western
District of Martins Bank is growing rapidly, and this brings about the
creation, in 1960, of the district proper, with its own district office and
board of directors. By 1969 there will be eight Bristol Branches, a District
office, and a Centralised Posting Unit – the latter being opened above
Broadmead Branch. Broadmead opens for business in 1957 in the splendid
premises shown here and below, at 60 Union Street. |
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It
is the sheer size of the building makes Broadmead the ideal choice to house
the Centralised Posting Unit, where the work of several local branches is processed
together by a dedicated team of accounts staff. Broadmead is also one of twenty-one Martins
Bank Branches that actually “take over” their local Barclays Branch at the
time of the 1969 merger. The premises
at 60 Union Street are deemed superior to those of Barclays own Broadmead
Branch which is closed on 12 December 1969. Martins Bank Magazine makes its
one and only visit to Broadmead Branch in the Autumn of 1959… As
our train steamed into Bristol in the early afternoon of October 15th our
objective was the branch at Broadmead, opened two years ago, but only now,
for a variety of reasons, receiving its rightful visit. We expected the usual
new branch set up, two or three men and a girl, a fairly quiet counter, empty
shelves in the safe custody part of the strongroom, loads of space for future
expansion, staff finishing around 5 p.m., a handful of cash and a modest
bunch of accounts. How wrong we were! Broadmead has been chosen to operate
the centralised posting system and the book-keeping of our other Bristol
branches is concentrated there. Thus you have the somewhat unusual spectacle
of a new branch being itself fully mechanised from the start, and a much
larger staff than one is accustomed to find at a newly opened branch. In distance Broadmead is not very far from Corn Street and the
need for the second branch is not immediately apparent to the stranger. The
position is, roughly speaking, comparable with Lombard Street Office and a
West End branch. Corn Street is in the heart of the commercial quarter, while
Broadmead is in the centre of the shopping area. The old shopping centre was
largely destroyed during the last war and the scars still remain, either as
ruins or as open spaces. The decision was taken to make the new shopping
centre a short distance away in the area known as Broadmead and here a fine
area of new streets and shops has been laid out and built and it was obvious
that banking service would be needed. Placed where it is, right in the middle
of a thriving new area the new branch has been just about as busy as it could
be light from the start and one experiences a feeling of exhilaration on
walking into the place and noting the activity on every hand. In Mr. A. C.
Bater the branch has a manager of the right temperament to take everything in
his stride and he and his staff have certainly had to work hard since the
branch opened its doors. Mr. Bater entered the Bank in 1938 at
Liverpool City Office and subsequently served at Heswall and West Kirby
before joining H.M. Forces in which he served from 1939 to 1946. On returning
he went to Meols and later in 1946 to Branch Department, Head Office. In 1950
he became second-in-command at Stafford and in 1955 he took up a similar
position at Worcester. The managership of Broadmead branch in 1957 was his
first appointment. He has an excellent
second-in-command in Mr. B. H. Crossey whose previous service embraces Bath
and Clifton with a spell in H.M. Forces sandwiched in between. Mr. Crossey is
a keen, thoroughly dependable and most competent second man. The First Cashier is Mr. G. E. Holbrook
whose previous service has been at Bristol and Clifton. Here, too, an
experienced and competent man was needed to cope with the very large daily
intake of cash and Mr. Holbrook fills the bill admirably. Mr. M. B. Gallagher
is the junior male clerk and because of the liaison with Clifton and Corn
Street a messenger is needed as part of the permanent staff: Mr. R. P. Lovell
is the representative of the non-clerical staff. Because of the mechanisation and the work involved in
doing the posting and statements of three branches a good control clerk was
needed and Mr. C. J. Wall, from Bath branch, looks after this side of the
branch activities. Mr. Wall met his wife at Bath branch, and she is still
there. Of the girls Miss E. L. Forward is the
senior in length of service and is training to be a cashier. Miss A. M. Lewis
is the oldest girl on the staff and she and Miss J. R. Brown are typists and
machinists. Miss I. S. West is the third machinist. Mr. Bater believes in inter-changeability and the
efficiency of his staff is being considerably improved by his plan of making
everyone know everyone else's job. Later on,
the day of our visit we had the pleasure of going out to the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Bater, at Keynsham, about half way between Bristol and Bath. Mrs. Bater
was formerly Miss Edna Jennings of H.O. Income Tax Department and is the
sister of Mr. J. H. Jennings, Personal Assistant to the Chief General
Manager. The visit was of exceptional
interest, for we have never before visited a new branch like this one, with
problems and complexities of management which are usually associated with
much older businesses.
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