Official Opening for New Pickering Building Society Branch

Newcastle Building Society celebrated the official launch of its new Pickering branch with the help of the local community, as it continues to buck the trend of bank branch closures.

The new branch opening, which the building society says "secures the future of essential financial services in Pickering" where the last bank is set to close in 2025.

The new modern, open-plan space officially opened on Pickering’s Market Place yesterday (Wednesday, 6th November), offers customers access to Newcastle Building Society’s full range of face-to-face services, information and financial advice. The opening marks the latest phase in a multi-year, multi-million-pound investment into high streets and communities in the region.

The Society welcomed Pickering Town Mayor, Councillor Emma Daplyn, and a representative of Ryedale Community Foodbank, Ian Clarke, to cut the ribbon at the official opening event alongside the chief executive of Newcastle Building Society, Andrew Haigh.

As well as a full range of branch services Newcastle Building Society is pioneering the use of a multi-bank kiosk in its new Pickering location. The OneBanx kiosk enables personal and small business customers to withdraw money and make coin and notes cash deposits into their own bank account. The kiosk will provide essential cash access for residents, visitors, and businesses in the town who continue to use cash and rely on convenient access to their account. All are welcome to come into the branch and make use of the OneBanx kiosk, whether or not they are customers of Newcastle Building Society.

The new branch expands the Society’s presence in Pickering, which started in 2019 when it acquired a financial advice-only office in the town. The financial advice team have already moved from their existing office on Champley’s Mews to the new branch on Market Place.

The opening of the Society’s 32nd branch comes ahead of the closure of Pickering’s last bank, with Barclays citing falling customer usage and increased preference for digital banking behind its decision to close in 2025. In contrast, Newcastle Building Society says it is seeing branch savings balances grow at rate more than double the market average, with a growth of 7.5% in branches compared to a rest of market average of 2.8% which includes savings across branch, online and telephone channels.

The Society says it is finding first hand that people are embracing businesses who remain committed to local financial services in the face of bank branch closures.

Andrew Haigh, chief executive officer at Newcastle Building Society said:

“As we’ve seen in Pickering, while banks continue to pull down the shutters, we’re committed to building a long term presence in our communities, and that’s why we’re growing our footprint and investing in our high streets and towns.

“We believe high streets are always better with branches, not only for the greater choice they offer our members in how they manage their finances, but also for the positive impact they have on their local communities. Our branch team in Pickering are already well connected with the community, and can’t wait to start to grow and develop long term relationships in the town.

“As a mutual, we’ll continue to focus on being available in the way our members and communities need us. It’s encouraging to see a growth in branch savings balances and customer numbers as more people recognise the value of financial services that are present on their high streets.”  

Since 2015, more than 6,100 bank branches have closed across the UK, impacting residents and businesses, with customers forced to travel miles to get to their nearest branch, making it harder for people to manage their money.

Despite a national trend of bank branch closures, Newcastle Building Society says it remains committed to face-to-face services and over recent years has opened branches in several new locations by sharing space with community organisations and helping to restore access to cash and financial services in places where banks have left town. This includes unique community partnership branches located in North Shields, Knaresborough, Hawes, Yarm, and Wooler. Each of these community branches share space with other charities or vital local services such as libraries, tourist information, and community policing.

Ryedale Community Foodbank was recently awarded a grant of £5,000 by the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland. The foodbank offers emergency food and household goods such as toiletries and cleaning products, to people in need in the Ryedale area. The volunteer-led foodbank has three foodbank centres in Malton/Norton, Pickering & Kirkbymoorside.

The Newcastle Building Society Community Fund at the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland offers grants to charities and community groups located in or around the communities served by the Society's branch network.