The last full week of Lloyds Bank!

One by one, the high street banks have deserted Welshpool and on January 26, Lloyds will be the final one to close its doors, making the town one of the few in Wales without a single branch.

The banking giant, whose origins can be traced back to the Lloyd family of Pontrobert, follow HSBC, Natwest and Barclays in turning their back on Welshpool customers, who are expected to use Post Office counters instead. Barclays have also been operating out of the COWSHACC.

In announcing their decision, Lloyds said that Welshpool customers have “more choice than ever in how to bank with us”.

And worryingly, the news has gone quiet on a specialist Banking Hub operation opening in the town, despite being announced with a fanfare at the time Lloyds said they were closing.

Lloyds said there simply wasn’t enough footfall to keep the branch open with “70% of customers already using other branches in the local area, such as Newtown branch”.

Meanwhile, the National Federation of Sub-postmasters (NFSP) said it will do its best to ensure they can look after local Lloyds customers.

“This will doubtless be disappointing to Lloyd’s customers in Welshpool, however, alternative banking provision is available to local residents at post office branches nearby,” the spokesperson said.

The NFSP said that the post offices at Welshpool and Guilsfield are available along with a Mobile Service at Leighton Village Hall Car Park. 

“Each of these branches offers banking services - including deposits, free cash withdrawals and balance checks, as well as offering face-to-face access to government services, bill payment, foreign currency, travel insurance and, of course, postal services,” they added.

Lloyds said that there would be no compulsory or voluntary redundancies and that staff would move a role to another branch or in another part of the business.