Bank is to shut (From Romsey Advertiser)

Bank is to shut

1:50pm Saturday 21st April 2012 in Basingstoke By Simon Moss

A BANK in the Houndmills area of Basingstoke is to close in the summer.

HSBC’s satellite branch, in Kingsclere Road, will shut its doors on June 29 after what bosses says has been a “significant” drop in customers. However, the company insists no one will be made redundant as part of the proposals.

James Thorpe, HSBC head of UK personal finance media relations, said: “We do need to ensure that our branches are in the right locations for our customers.

“On occasions this means that we need to close some branches where customer footfall has fallen dramatically.

“Our Houndmills branch is a case in point. Customer usage of the branch has fallen very significantly over the past few years.

“Our network has to be fit-for-purpose and we have to ensure that our branches are located in areas where they are actually used.

“We are working with the small number of customers who use the branch to help them reorganise their finances ahead of the planned closure.”