Martyn Jones

Labour Party | Clwyd South

Use It Or Lose It’ Call By Mp On Halifax Closure Threat

A North Wales MP has called on local residents in Rhosllanerchgrugog near Wrexham, to use their local Branch of the Halifax Building Society, in order to avoid its closure later in the year.

MARTYN JONES MP (Clwyd South) ‘took up the cudgels’ on behalf of local people to try to save the Branch.

The Rhos Branch of the Halifax, is located as an agency within Wingett’s Estate Agents in the village, and is scheduled for closure on 9th December this year.

In response to the company’s decision, Martyn Jones wrote to James Crosby, Chief Executive of HBOS (Halifax’s parent company) asking him to reverse the decision on closure.

He has now received a reply from Mr Crosby.

In his letter, Mr Crosby told Martyn Jones that HBOS had not taken the decision lightly, and the company were aware of the considerable strength of local feeling on closing the Halifax Branch. However due to the low number of customer transactions, the company had decided on closure.

Commenting on Mr Crosby’s letter, MARTYN JONES MP said:

“Mr Crosby assured me in his letter that whilst customers had not yet been formally informed of the decision on closure, his company would be in continuing discussions with Wingetts over the coming weeks, to discuss what – if any – options were available.

“The Rhos Branch serves a number of villages in the area – not just Rhos. So I would urge local Halifax customers to use the Branch whenever possible in order to try to save the Branch from closure.

“If the number of customer transactions at the Branch by local people are increased over the coming weeks, it may just persuade HBOS to adopt a different approach in their discussions with Wingetts. The message is simple – use it or lose it."

Martyn Jones is well known for his close scrutiny of how bank and building societies treat their customers. He was the driving force behind the recent campaign to stop financial institutions using dormant accounts to bolster their own profits.