Midland District Office

MIDLAND DISTRICT OFFICE

Martins Bank 1928+

Martins Bank moves into the City of Birmingham in 1935, and opens up for business at 98 Colmore Row on 1st March. The Bank then sets about opening the many and varied branches that will form a Midland District of the Bank. Work on he new district begins in 1950 and in 1952 this advertisement announces that a Board of Local Directors has been appointed.

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

Until now this imposing building on Colmore Row has served only as “Birmingham Branch”, but once the Midland District of the Bank is formally created with the appointment of Mr J A Naisbitt as District General Manager, the paraphernalia of District Office departments begins to fill its rooms. Distict Offices really don’t come much more imposing than these magnificent premises, the overall look of the building, not least the number of floors – seven at least – reminds us very much of the Bank’s Head Office Building in Liverpool. The Midland District is indeed widespread - reaching East into Lincolnshire, and as far south as Banbury in Oxfordshire. Some boundary changes do occur before the merger with Barclays, whose structure of “Local Head Offices” allows them to cherry pick the best of Martins’ District Offices, using some of them in place of its own premises, and closing the rest.

Local recruitment…

This advertisement is from a 1961 recruitment camapign. It has been designed to appeal to young ladies who would like a career in banking. It comes in two versions, one for London and the South of England, and one for the Midlands. The ad does its best to disguise the fact that back-office clerical work at this time is extremely boring and repetitive, but as we have seen elsewhere in the Online Archive, the sense of family and the availablility of a wide range of social activities, coupled with work in a clean an dry environment goes a long way to making up for work itself! Note the generic wording at the end of the ad, inviting applications to Midland District Office. Remember also, that at this time newspapers and magazines are the only way of advertising for people to join the staff of the Bank. We do not know if the young lady actually does work for Martins – perhaps she has been provided by an agency. The Midland District experiences “a little local difficulty” when the Bank chooses to use images of models instead of staff at the opening of LEICESTER DRIVE-IN BRANCH, and the staff were NOT impressed!

Image © Barclays Ref: 0025-0251

Dinner with the family…

1950

1961

1965

1968

1969

Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections

Midland Dinner The family atmosphere engendered by Martins Bank is never more apparent that at the many district dinners organised for the staff over the years. We are pleased to have these three examples (above) of menu cards that are issued to those attending these events. They serve as an invitation to the Staff Dinners that are taking place on 18 November 1950, 25 February 1961, 27 February 1965, 24 February 1968 and 22 February 1969, when for some reason, the front cover is used to show the new 5 pence piece which began circulating alongside its pre-decimal counterpart the Shilling, in 1968. DECIMALISATION of the UK’s Currency will be completed in 1971. This photograph shows the sheer number of staff attending the first of these extremely popular annual get-togethers. In our Staff Gallery Below, the staff job titles are quoted as they appear in Martins Bank Magazine. Sometimes a staff member will appear more than once depending on the number of appointments they held. As even Martins Bank Magazine is known to have made one or two small errors now and again, if you see any details that you know to be wrong, please contact us with the reason, as this will help us to tell the story as acurately as we can. End dates for a person’s role are given where known. The word “onwards” indicates a role held until at least the date of the merger with Barclays…



*Colonel PH Jones* *MC TD DL* *Board Member* *1951*	*The Rt Hon Lord Cromwell* *Board Member 1953*	*Alderman Col.* *Philip Lloyd* *Board Member 1962*	*Mr J F Mallabar FCA* *Board Member* *1964*
DISTRICT OFFICE – GENERAL STAFF


*Miss J M Green* *MDO Staff* *1967*	*Mr P R Thompson* *MDO Staff* *1968*	*Mr D H Casson* *MDO Staff* *1969*	*Mr R G Marshall* *MDO Staff* *1969*
DISTRICT GENERAL MANAGER’S DEPARTMENT


*Mr N N Jobling* *Midland DGM* *1954 to 1959*	*Mr D C Bardsley* *Midland D G M* *1959 to 1961*	*Mr R J Lees* *Midland Asst. DGM* *1961 to 1963*	*Mr W E Turnbull* *Midland DGM* *1961 to 1968*	*Mr R P Gordon* *Midland Asst. DGM* *1963 to 1966*	*Mr G W Parkinson* *Midland Asst. DGM* *1966 onwards*



*Mr M Hollway* *Midland DGM* *1968 onwards*
INSPECTORS


*Mr R W A Burns* *Inspector* *1961*	*Mr A Buckler* *Inspector* *1963*	*Mr G S Gallagher* *Inspector* *1963*	*Mr V R Norton* *Inspector* *1963*	*Mr M D Ellison* *Inspector* *1965*	*Mr F Morlidge* *Inspector* *1966*



*Mr T Shield* *Inspector* *1966*	*Mr R Goldby* *Inspector* *1968*
SUPERINTENDENT OF BRANCHES				PREMISES DEPARTMENT


*Mr R J Lees* *Superintendent of Branches* *1951 to 1961*	*Mr D W Hall* *Superintendent of Branches* *1961 to 1965*	*Mr G W Parkinson* *Superintendent of Branches* *1965 to 1966*	*Mr A Taylor* *Superintendent of Branches* *1966 onwards*	*Mr F Thompson* *Pro then Asst Manager* *1965, 1967 onwards*