Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Barclays Bank Closing

We have just got a letter telling us that Barclays Harringay is closing on 12/08/21.

This is the only bank in Harringay and always has queues to get in. There is obviously a need for it, why close it?

Time for a petition?

Louisa Spivack

(Note from Site Admin- See potted history by Hugh, below on page 2)

Tags for Forum Posts: barclays

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on May 9, 2021 at 8:04

Following my comment last night, I went online and readily found the closure impact assessment report for Barclays Harringay.

It's pretty thin. Essentially, it's in three sections:

Why the branch is closing
Data on recent usage
Local options for banking

It includes the following:

Here are the main reasons why the Harringay branch is closing:

The number of counter transactions has gone down in the previous 24 months, and additionally 89% of our branch customers also use other ways to do their banking such as online and by telephone

Customers using other ways to do their banking has increased by 9% since 2015

In the past 12 months, 45% of this branch's customers have been using nearby branches

We’ve identified that only 47 customers use this branch exclusively for their banking

Following the logic in the Times report, this means that Barclays accountants would calculate that this branch costs them £12,500 p.a. per 'loyal customer'.

Full report - Reasons-For-Closure-Harringay.pdf

(Barclays clsore report web page - home.barclays/society/esg-resource-hub/reporting-and-disclosures/uk...)

For a wider sense of the impact of bank branch closures, a 2020 House of Commons report is attached - Bank branches: why are they closing and what is the impact?.pdf

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Permalink Reply by Devon Williams on May 9, 2021 at 14:22

Surprised it hadn't closed earlier given those overheads and small number of customers.

I'd like to think a small bank would move in but I can't see them making much either. Time to jump on a bus to Wood Green.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on May 8, 2021 at 13:06

That's been a bank since it opened as a London & Provincial in 1899. (But it survived to serve its original purpose a lot longer than the one on Hornsey High Street or the Stroud Green branch - Stroud Green was closed in 1981 and Hornsey in the late 80s).

L&P was acquired by Barclays in 1917. Whilst the phone book shows the branch within it's listing for Barclays branches from 1921, the Kelly's listing suggests that in fact it may have continued to trade under the old name. Here's the listing in the 1937 Kelly's. (Sadly page 145 was blank - perhpas the ad was withdrawn due to imminent rebranding?)

The London phone book shows us that by 1940 it was trading as Barclays. The following is from the extensive Barclay's listing in the directory.

Here's the bank in 1968.

So, that's a history of 122 years of the Harringay building as a bank; 41 years as London and Provincial, 81 years as Barclays.

With the relaxation in planning laws, one can only wonder at what it will become.

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Permalink Reply by Louisa Spivack on May 8, 2021 at 13:09

Well it's a great shame. I think the horrendous queues for the post office will get worse as the small local businesses cash their change!

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Permalink Reply by kotkas on May 8, 2021 at 14:38

It is a beautiful building that I think was recently refurbished. Hopefully it will see good use in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Fowler on May 14, 2021 at 13:51

The old Post Office wasn't a bad building either, until it was left to decay by whoever owns it. I wish it could be brought back into use as a Post Office. Or, failing that, at least be put into use by a business that could take full advantage of the corner site. Though perhaps _not_ as yet another restaurant, the number of which along Green Lanes attract a lot of extra traffic.

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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on May 8, 2021 at 19:27

For the hard of hearing, Harringay Green Lanes is a recognised District Town Centre.

Whilst many are happy & content with a cashless society, not everyone is, and not everyone wishes to have all of their spending itemised and stored on a server in who knows where for who knows who to mine and make mischief.

Where will the traders of Green Lanes be able to place their takings for safety at the end of the day when they lock up and go home to be with their families, or where will they be able to get their trading 'float'?

Banks provide a service, in fact a large range of financial services. The taxpayer bailed them out in the 2008 financial crash when they had been pedaling under-regulated securities which went sour, now is the time to honour the bank's side of the bargin and to act responsibly, not to just reward their owners & share-holders, but remember it's their customers who help to make them successful.

Barclays recently won a highly contested court case on 'technicalities' about the manner in which they managed to bail themselves out in 2009, but not before some pretty unsavoury behaviour was acknowledged by their management board and backers in the UAE.

I note that no one has mentioned the job loses that will accompany the closure, there will probably be redundancy payments, but that is not the point.

"Little old men"? Are there any other protected characteristics you'd like to include in your comments?

Some people for all manner of reasons might not be able to use on-line banking, and might also find it very inconvenient to visit a branch a mile away.

All in all, if the bank does close, it will without doubt inconvenience many people in all manner of ways, and as has been mentioned earlier it is not as though the bank was not in demand.