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  WELCOME to Martins Bank
Archive, and to MARTINS
BANK MAGAZINE -
our news feature in honour of the Bank’s staff publication, which from 1946
to 1969 brought news of changing times, new Branches and services and even
new technologies to those working in branches and departments in England
Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. From Drive-In Branches to
computers and the Cash Dispenser, it seems that Martins Bank has it all,
yet on 1 November 1968, it becomes just one more of the Barclays Group of
Companies. This status is maintained only until close of Business on Friday
12 December 1969, as from the following Monday, 730 branches of the bank
will open their doors under the name of Barclays.
March is upon us, its name
perhaps synonymous with the “march of time” as 2025 goes hurtling by! We
now have a closure date for Cockermouth Branch, as Barclays finalise their
arrangements for the banking services that will replace that particular
branch. After more than one hundred
and fifteen years, the doors will close at cockermouth for the final time
at noon on Friday 4 April 2025. It
is not yet clear if there will be a “Barclays Local” service in attendance
in the town, or a Post Office® Banking Hub.
We will let you know when the decision has been taken.
Branches opened in 1965…
It’s the swinging
1960s, and banks in all parts of the United Kingdom are OPENING new
branches like there’s no tomorrow!
It seems a strange concept indeed to us in the twenty-first century
to think of any bank opening a new branch, but sixty years ago, we were not
quite at the stage where computers would begin to take over in the way that
they eventually would, leaving thousands of bank branches closed, and the
use of cash for eveyday transactions significantly cut down. The following Branches were opened in
1965, so why not visit them and marvel, as that most fantastic of all bank
services – the branch – comes to town in so many places!
A significant Anniversary…
 This year,
2025, sees the EIGHTIETH Anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Thanks to a long departed member of staff
of Martins Bank’s Branch at Walsall, we have an almost complete set of Head
Office Circulars covering early 1940 to late 1945. This section of the Archive is a valuable
mirror of British Social History, as among the various instructions to
“batten down the hatches”, bombings of some branches, mothballing of
others, the introduction of Women Bank Managers, and an ever increasing list
of countries NOT to be dealt with financially, we see the effects of the
increased demands of the Kennet Committee, deciding who should be released
from previously reserved occupations, to be sent to war. We also see how the Bank tried its utmost
to look after its staff, how special grants and bonuses were paid to help
keep them fed and clothed, and towards the end of the war, there is the
everyday “housekeeping” of removing black-out blinds, re-opening branches,
and getting business back to normal once more. For 2025, we are going to
look at these Head Office Circulars once again, and with the help of our
good friends at the British Newspaper Archive, we want to bring you stories
from the war, some in particular from 1945, which show that people who worked
in Banks, just as in a whole raft of other professions were affected by
upheaval and change. Look out for
these stories, which will apear along with relevant images on our Facebook®
Page throughout 2025.
Branches from A to Z
We have now
relaunched our BRANCHES A TO Z page, to
enhance the experience of browsing our portfolio of just over 1000
buildings in use between 1928 and 1969 as Branches of Martins Bank. The new menus include, wherever possible,
images of buildings, to guide you as you search out branch pages that take
your fancy. More relevance has been placed on the origins of some branches
which came from among the many constituent Banks that at one time or other
were merged, taken over, or amalgamated into what became the modern day
Martins Bank. We are sure you will
enjoy your journey around Martins Bank’s Branches. Please note that the Branches by District
sections have now been removed from the web site. You will however, still
be able to visit individual District Offices and their departments.
Important News about the Martins Bank Staff
Database
 We would like to draw your attention to the completion of the first
major phase of the Martins Bank Staff Database. The career details of more than 25,000
member of the Staff of martins Bank Limited, have been put together from
the information published by Martins Bank in its magazine and other
publications, and this has been in the public domain for at least
fifty-five years. It is vital that surviving members of Martins Bank’s
staff have the opportunity to see the career details held for them, and to
understand about how and why the database exists as a social history
resource that seeks to preserve the name of Martins Bank for the interest
of future generations.
Please CLICK
HERE or on the image of
the NEWS RELEASE pictured (left) to
obtain this information, and if, once you have read it, you would like to
receive your career details, please do get in touch with the archive by
email at the following address: martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. If you are the relative of a deceased
member of the staff and would like to obtain details of their career –
perhaps as part of family tree research, please contact Martins Bank
Archive at the same address.
Banking on trust…
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 Formed from the existing
trustee and investment business of Martins Bank, which dated back to 1908
when the Bank of Liverpool first opened a trustee department, Martins
Bank Trust Company Limited brought together a number of servies which had
been key earners for the bank in the various parts of the country where
there was either a Trustee Office, an Income Tax Department, or both.
By the late 1960s,
notwithstanding the search for another bank with with to merge, Martins
Bank aquired a number of smaller specialist companies as subsidiaries,
each of which specialised in financial services, that would enable the
Bank to spread its interests, provide a more comprehensive offering to
the customer AND
that
would profit the Bank, by retaining those customers might have gone
elsewhere for these services.
Thanks to the Denis
Maxwell Collection, our Archive now has insight into these companies, as
well as the merger processes that began as early as 1961 and continued on
and off until the merger with Barclays.
When you visit our TRUSTEE AND INVESTMENT SERVICES feature page, you will now
find more detailed information than we have previously offered for the
following:
·
Dillon Walker
& Co
·
Griffin Assurance
·
Martins
Unicorn
·
Martins Bank (Finance)
Limited
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Branch Closures – 2024/5
 The High Street Banks are
continuing to deplete their High Street presence at an alarming rate.
Several affecting Martins Bank Branches took place in 2023/24, and you can keep fully up to date with
developments, and see the full list of Martins Branch closures since April
2007 by visiting our BRANCH
WATCH pages. The remaining branches have
continued to dwindle, and the few that are left can be viewed – along with
a brief history and the option to visit the branch page for each one – by
visiting our special feature page THE REMAINING BRANCHES. 09/02/2024 – Barclays Wealth took the
decision to CLOSE their branch at Castletown Isle of Man, but this
closure was not recorded on the Barclays web site. 15/03/2024 – Following
the RELOCATION in March of South Shields King
Street Branch from No 1 to Nos 64/66 King Street, another Martins
Branch was lost. Our “Branches Still Open” till stamp takes into account
these additional closures, and sadly this brings the number of original
Martins Branches still open into single figures for the first time.
Barclays have now decided that Cockermouth
will be closed on 4 April 2025, and plans are in place for either a
Barclays Local or Post Office Banking Hub.
More news here as we receive it.
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Martins Bank and Trade
Unions
 UPDATED! From humble beginnings in
1940, Martins Bank Staff Association went into competition with the
National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE), before eventually becoming a
trade union. In a new feature, we look at the origins of Martins Bank
Staff Association, its absorption into Barclays Staff Association and its
eventual journey into being part of UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade union
organisations in the twenty-first century. We also profile the career of Mr W E
Gale, who achieved the role of General Secretary of the Staff Association
at Martins, and continued the role with Barclays following the merger of
the two banks in 1969. You can
visit our new page by clicking on the leaflet. We would also like to hear from Martins
Bank Staff who remember the staff association, and about whether they
joined, or became members of its “rival” NUBE. Whilst we have a number of Staff
Association related items in the Archive, there is currently only one
exhibit from NUBE – a book of discount shopping vouchers, given as an
incentive to its members. Please
do get in touch with your trade union memories at the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. We have updated Martins
Bank and the Trade Unions to include the story of how the Staff
Association emerges towards the end of the Second World War as a
negotiator of terms and conditions for the employees of the Bank. You can
also read about how the Easter Bank Holiday of 1944 was ruined for many
staff by of all things, the introduction of the Pay as You Earn (PAYE)
Income Tax system!
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