Martins Bank Information Department is a kind of ‘Points of View’ - its purpose being to inform customers about products and services, and deal with all manner of queries compliments and complaints from both customers and staff. As a centralised department it is unique within the bank. When compared with modern banking organisations, the Information Department does the work of several departments at once – control of advertising, customer service, press liaison and unintentionally a staff information point. Despite having been in existence since 1959, it is clear even four years later that for many staff the department remains a bit of a curiosity. So in an attempt to ‘lift the veil’, Martins Bank Magazine produces the following article about the Information Department…
Left to right: H. H. I. Easterling, Mr. R. I. H. Lloyd-Jones (Manager), D. H. Gilroy, Miss A. V. Butler-Wright, Miss P. A. Boughton. Standing on the right is J. P. Smith, B.A. (Oxon.), who is temporarily attached to the department from our graduate training scheme, for special duties.
At your service … INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
When, in October 1959, the new Information Department opened at Head Office under the management of Mr. R. I. H. Lloyd-Jones, we said of his new job that it would be watched with more than a little curiosity. To many of us this must still be a mystery department for it has no 'offshoots' in the big centres or District Offices: it is in fact unique. Its terms of reference are, officially, to provide a comprehensive service for customers in answering queries on all commercial, industrial, economic and financial matters both in this country and overseas. Those who have experienced the quality of the work produced will know how well these objectives are being achieved. A visit to the Department gives one some idea of the material available, from the market price of rice in Hongkong, the tax structure in France, the principal colleges and universities in Argentina to details of areas in England and Wales where businesses might be set up, openings for exporters anywhere in the world, and the economic health of industry at home and abroad. There is even a large file on Decimal Currency.
Relatively few women progress beyond clerical or secretarial work in Martins Bank. Looking at the available records, it is difficult before 1950 to find a married woman, let alone one with some degree of authority. From the mid fifties onwards this begins to change, but not fast enough. It seems that men not only hold high office, but are often the only ones encouraged to seek it. It is also quite the norm for Martins to use smiling female staff to appeal to male customers. Their pictures are published in the staff magazine under headings such as ‘Counter Attraction’ and ‘Accounting for Charm’… One of the few exceptions is Leila Danbury who as press liaison officer, attahced to Messrs Osborn Peacock, is the official voice and occasionally face of the bank when major announcements – concerning for example the opening of new branches or the installation of computer equipment - are made.			Leila Danbury (pictured here in 1959) in her role as Press Officer at the opening of the Leicester Drive-in Bank
You can read about the role of women in Martins in our feature, FEMININE FAYRE
One of the biggest tasks is to keep information up to date and Mr. Lloyd-Jones and his staff quickly realised that the greatest value of the Department lies not so much in trying to know everything about everything but in knowing where to turn to find out anything, and it has been truly said that an Intelligence Department rests behind the forehead of its Principal. Clearly, there must be very close contact with our Overseas branches and sources of information which even include Embassies. There are four main kinds of enquiry: the first, which requires a quick answer, may be, for example: 'What is the value of the £ now compared with 1908?', but not all queries can be met so readily. The second type of enquiry is that which involves delving for basic facts and the answer probably gives no clue to the amount of delving done.
	Martins Drive-in Bank was opened in 1959 by the then Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, The Rt Hon Harold A Watkinson P.C. M.P. The new service received a great deal of attention in the press.
Martins Information Department have produced this detailed leaflet to help customers understand the concept of, and of course use, the DRIVE-IN BANK .
Thirdly come the 'trade enquiries'—requests to put buyers and sellers in touch either in this country or overseas, and last, but by no means least, are the full scale researches into some aspect of economics or marketing. These are invariably produced specifically to suit the circumstances of individual customers and are thus of greater value to them than reports produced periodically for general circulation. The results may well cover tariffs, trade procedure, possible projects, agriculture, emigration, living costs, development areas, licensing monopolies, tax structure and social services.
					← “Starting a Business in Britain” – Information Department 1964
		→ Pocket guides to European travel destinations with handy reckoners for exchange rates and metric measures
The writing and annual revision of such publications as 'The World is Your Market', and, more recently, 'Finance for Farmers and Growers', are the responsibility of this Department as will be future publications and, from May 1st, the overall responsibility for advertising. The production of the various publicity brochures and leaflets is, however, the responsibility of the Advertising Department.					← This pocket guide has been specially prepared for customers of British Eagle Airways
Mr. Lloyd-Jones is a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and joined us in 1951. Prior to forming his new Department, much of his work involved visits abroad and research. He attended the International Summer School at Oxford in 1961 and also spent some time in various specialised departments in Head Office and the Liverpool District. Mr. H. H. I. Easterling, his second-in-command, is also a Cambridge graduate who entered the Bank in London in 1953 and joined the Department in 1961. Mr. D. H. Gilroy, much of whose time is now spent on preparing new publications, entered the Bank in Liverpool City Office in 1949. His experience has been entirely in Liverpool branches, including Overseas branch, and he joined Information Department from Chief Accountant's Department in 1961. He is well known for his work for the Operatic Society with which he played several leading roles before assuming the conductor's baton in 1959, a post he has relinquished only this season. He is also an accomplished pianist. Although Miss A. V. Butler-Wright has been with us only a year, her previous secretarial experience coupled with her active mind make her a very useful member of the Department as also is Miss P. A. Boughton who joined the Department in 1959 after a varied school life which, her father being an Army officer, included eighteen months in Hongkong. In a department such as this there must surely sometimes be frustrations when there is little to show for all the work done but it is to the credit of Mr. Lloyd-Jones that nobody looked frustrated, nor did they give the impression that they could be.
© gut informiert 2007 to date