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Croeso i Gymru, dewch
i mewn…
  Mae gan Martins Banc gyfanswm
o ddwy ar bymtheg o ganghennau yng Nghymru yn ystod ei fywyd , ond y lleoedd
hyn yn cael eu gweld yn unig yn y Gogledd neu Dde Cymru , ac o dan reolaeth DAU swyddfeydd ardal wahanol. Canghennau ac is ganghennau yng Ngogledd
Cymru yn cael eu rheoli gan Swyddfa Lerpwl Rhanbarthol , a Swyddfa Ranbarthol
De Bryste Gorllewin, yn edrych ar ôl y rhai yn Ne Cymru. rheolwyr sy'n siarad
Cymraeg a staff yn cael eu cyflogi , a Martins yn cymryd o ddifrif y swydd o
hysbysebu yn yr iaith Gymraeg i ddenu a chadw cwsmeriaid yno . Mae'r
enghreifftiau hyn yn dod o'r digwyddiad Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Frenhinol
sy'n cael ei mynychu bob blwyddyn gan un o'r canghennau Martins Mobile.
Martins yn cymryd ei gweithrediadau yng Nghymru yn ddifrifol iawn , ac mae'r
Rheolwr Cangen Caerdydd yw'r cyntaf yn y DU i
ddod o hyd i'r syniad o wiriadau hargraffu yn Gymraeg ac yn Saesneg - rydym
yn dal i chwilio am enghraifft o Martins gwirio ddwyieithog.
Martins Bank has a total of seventeen branches in
Wales during its lifetime, but these outlets are found only in North or South
Wales, and come under the control of TWO
different district offices. Branches
and sub branches in North Wales are controlled by Liverpool District Office, and South Western District Office in Bristol, looks
after those in South Wales. Welsh
speaking managers and staff are employed, and Martins takes very seriously
the job of advertising in the Welsh language to attract and retain customers
there. These examples are from the
Royal National Eisteddfod an event that is attended each year by one of
Martins Mobile branches. Martins takes
its operations in Wales very seriously, and the Manager of Cardiff Branch is
first in the UK to come up with the idea of printing cheques in both English
and Welsh – we are still looking for an example of a bilingual Martins cheque…
Gwlad y Gan…
 Four
members of the
Pontcanna Children’s Choir, who appear each month on the Television
Wales and the West programme “Land of Song” visit Martins Mobile Branch at
the 1960 Royal National Eisteddfod. Pictured with Mr K Harris-Hughes
(Manager, Cardiff), standing left to right are Brenda Fletcher and Elaine
Williams. Seated are Rosemary and Siân Hopkins. Inside the Mobile Branch
(below, left) are Elaine Williams, Mr G Millward (Clerk in Charge), Mr S
Pennell, Mr K Harris-Hughes and Brenda Fletcher. Pontcanna
is the site of the Television Wales and the West studio centre, which in 1964
is one of the most modern TV broadcasting facilities in Europe. The two colour photographs below were taken by Mr Millward,
Clerk in Charge of the Mobile Branch, and they feature on the left, Miss Sian
Hopkins the fifteen year-old singer from the Land of Song Programme, and on
the right Miss Eirlys Baitton of Cardiff.
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In order
to visit just about every one of more than eighty agricultural and other
specialist shows taking place all over England and Wales each year, Martins
has a fleet of MOBILE BRANCH CARAVANS. In 1961 the Bank attends two major show
events in Wales – the Royal National Eisteddfod which is held in
Rhosllanerchrugog, and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, which takes place
in Llandeilo.
 For both
events, Mobile Branch No 6 is used, with Alan Atkin (pictured) as Clerk in
Charge. The Bank will be at the
Eisteddfod from 7 to 12 August, and immediately beforehand, Alan will have
been at the Oswestry Agricultural Show.
His itinery has him leaving Oswestry on 4 August to travel to
Rhosllanerchrugog, and set up the Mobile Branch ready for the show. The
Controlling Branch is at Wrexham, and they will provide stocks of cash for
the Mobile unit. The staff of the
Mobile Branch, usually the Clerk in Charge, a cashier and a messenger, stay
in hotels near to the venues they are attending, and for the 1961
Eisteddfod, they will stay at the Buck Hotel in Bangor Is-y-Coed, near
Wrecsam. This slick operation is repeated
across the UK wherever Martins is represented at a show or event. Very tiring for the staff, but also
rewardingly different to being stuck behind the counter of a branch all the
time!
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 A Dual Message
In 1958, Martins Bank’s’ advertising
campaign to recuit younger account holders goes bi-lingual, with two separate
advertisements designed to overcome the fear potential customers might have
of walking into a bank to open an account. One of the advertisements is in
Welsh, the other in English. The image
is the same in both ads, so it appears here just once just once, but with both
sets of wording:
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We wondered just how similar
the two versions might be, if we ran the Welsh words through a modern day
translation programme. The resulting somewhat “clunky” grammar is not exactly
what we had expected, but the spirit and meaning of the original still
shows through:
“Actually,
I was a bit embarrassed at the thought of opening an account at the bank
and only a few pounds to put it in. But Martins was as considerate as
friends; I was shown how to use a cheque book and instructing me about such
things, until I do to be at home. That's why I'm with them forever.”
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