'Sad day' as two banks close in Lincolnshire town
Sleaford’s last two remaining high street bank branches closed their doors on Thursday (March 12), but staff are keen to remind customers they will still be available to answer their financial queries at the new Banking Hub in the town
It was announced last year that both the Halifax Bank branch on Southgate and the Lloyds Bank on Northgate would close as bosses claimed more and more customers were choosing to do their day to day banking via other means, such as online, via app or telephone banking.
On their final day Halifax branch manager Emily Boulton said it would be sad to close after so many years in the town.
She said: “We’ve had a lot of customers come in to wish us well and say it is sad, because a lot have used us for quite a long time.
"But we have the Banking Hub (in Millstream Square) up and running and we will be there from next week.”
Community bankers will be available to answer account questions and more complex matters on Mondays for Halifax and Fridays for Lloyds, between 9am and 5pm. She pointed out that customers can visit either banker as they are part of the same Lloyds Banking group.
Angela Horton will be a regular community banker at the new Hub. She said: “We have still had customers coming in in the last few days and we have sorted them out with alternative channels for banking, be it online or telephone banking. The closure has been announced for a year so we have had time to prepare people.”
Lloyds Bank branch customer Paul Steer is landlord of The Horseshoes pub at Silk Willoughby. He said it was “a very sad day” for the town.
“Banks are closing all over the country,” he said. “I don’t know how much thought the banks have given to the customers. Lloyds has been a very good bank for me over the years.
“I don’t know where I will go to get change and deal with my takings and banking, but I will try the new Banking Hub a try."