Clwyd South AM Ken Skates will meet a High
Street bank boss later this month in an attempt to save two under-threat
branches.
Labour Assembly Member
Mr Skates has secured a meeting with NatWest’s regional director for Wales Mark
Douglas after the company announced it would shut branches in Llangollen and
Corwen later this year, leaving the latter without a single bank.
Mr Skates said: “As I
have already said, I am desperately disappointed by this decision and it’s yet
another example of a huge company putting profits before people. Let’s not
forget it’s these very people who helped bail out the Royal Bank of Scotland,
which owns NatWest.
“If NatWest will not
budge on its plans to shut these two important branches in Clwyd South, then I
will be demanding assurances over jobs and at that the mobile unit the company has
promised will visit Llangollen and Corwen will do so regularly.
“I will aim to get
the best deal possible for my constituents under the circumstances.”
Mr Skates, who is
based in Llangollen, added: “This move has come as a real blow to many
customers who aren’t comfortable with online banking and who can’t easily get
to Wrexham in order to get the face-to-face service they have rightly come to
expect.
“It’s also a major
inconvenience for many of the small and independent businesses in both of these
key towns who frequently use their local branches to bank takings, so the very
least NatWest can do is provide regular access to over-the-counter services for
the loyal customers they have effectively turned their backs on.”
Mr Skates will
meet Mr Douglas in Cardiff on June 24.
I'm a Nat West account holder. Following this news I contacted several local politicians. They have all been contacted by Nat West, with Nat West asking them for a meeting. It's disingenuous at best by Skates to say that he will have a meeting with Nat West.
ReplyDeleteAlso I spoke to Nat West about their proposals,and they said that they have a mobile unit and all they need is an agreement from the Council as to where it can be parked, and they have said that there will be no redundancies.
So our politician is insisting that they do what they are doing!
What value is he adding? Nothing. Just hot air.