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  WELCOME to Martins Bank
Archive, and to MARTINS
BANK MAGAZINE -
our news feature in honour of the Bank’s staff publication, which from 1946
to 1969 brought news of changing times, new Branches and services and even
new technologies to those working in branches and departments in England
Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. From Drive-In Branches to
computers and the Cash Dispenser, it seems that Martins Bank has it all,
yet on 1 November 1968, it becomes just one more of the Barclays Group of
Companies. This status is maintained only until close of Business on Friday
12 December 1969, as from the following Monday, 730 branches of the bank
will open their doors under the name of Barclays.
It's all about the branding!
 Our
front cover for April 2024 is all about advertising, branding,
commemorative items and giveaways that contributed to the distinctive image
of Martins Bank in its final years – the mid-to-late-1960s. As the largest
of what were known as the “small six” banks, Martins was a serious
contender, employing advertising as fully as regulation allowed – although
TV advertising was frowned upon, they still managed to produce one
television advert before merging with Barclays. Engaging children with the idea of using
a bank account and saving their pennies for the future, involved a number
of ingenious giveaways. The adult banking market was also partial to the
odd giveaway, and from simple boxes of matches to commemorative playing
cards, topped off with the occasional commemorative booklet, Martins Bank
was happy to oblige. Bank branches
themselves, now a faint memory on most high streets were also a crucial
part of “the brand” – a customer’s first impression had to be a good one!
To take a tour of these topics, may we suggest you visit the following
pages and feature sections of the Archive:
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Martins Bank and Trade
Unions
From humble beginnings in
1940, Martins Bank Staff Association went into competition with the
National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE), before eventually becoming a
trade union. In a new feature, we look at the origins of Martins Bank
Staff Association, its absorption into Barclays Staff Association and its
eventual journey into being part of UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade union
organisations in the twenty-first century. We also profile the career of Mr W E
Gale, who achieved the role of General Secretary of the Staff Association
at Martins, and continued the role with Barclays following the merger of
the two banks in 1969. You can
visit our new page by clicking on the leaflet. We would also like to hear from Martins
Bank Staff who remember the staff association, and about whether they
joined, or became members of its “rival” NUBE. Whilst we have a number of Staff
Association related items in the Archive, there is currently only one
exhibit from NUBE – a book of discount shopping vouchers, given as an
incentive to its members. Please
do get in touch with your trade union memories at the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com.
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Branch Closures – 2023/4
The High Street Banks are
continuing to deplete their High Street presence at an alarming rate. Several
affecting Martins Bank Branches have already taken place in 2023, and you can keep fully up to date with
developments, and see the full list of Martins Branch closures since April
2007 by visiting our BRANCH
WATCH pages. The remaining branches
dwindled by the end of August 2023 to just twenty-three, and these can be viewed
along with their history and the option to visit the feature page for each
one, by visiting THE REMAINING BRANCHES. One month into 2024, the axe is being
wielded once more, and you can see here the next round of Martins Branch
closures, taking us up to May 2024.
As – inevitably – more are announced
we’ll keep you posted here. One further closure has been scheduled
for January 2025 – COCKERMOUTH. It might actually close
any time between now and that date, as these longer scheduled closures
normally relate to the establishment of a Banking hub in a particular area.
When we know more about this one, we will bring you the details.
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I bought the Bank
(continued)…
 We are always delighted to
hear from friend of the Archive David Phelan, who featured on this site a few
years ago when he purchased the former Martins Bank Branch at
Grange-over-Sands following its permanent closure on 1 May 2019. He has
turned it not only into a beautiful and comfortable home, but has also
collected appropriate banking memorabilia with which to furnish and
decorate it.
David is of course very
interested in the history of the building, and always on the lookout for
period pictures. This lovely image (right) of the branch in its days as the
Bank of Liverpool Ltd, is one of those acquisitions, and we are always
grateful for David’s input to our own Archive. Many people down the years
have wondered if Grange-over-Sands branch was originally some kind of
chapel or even a church, but no, it was built this way as a bank.
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Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections – D T
Phelan
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Keeping a permanent
record
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1960s Image ©
Barclays Ref 0030-1693
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2000s Image © Martins Bank Archive
Collections
– ROBERT MONTGOMERY
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An unexpected result of the closure of former Martins Bank Branches
in recent years, has been the sight of the Bank’s original signage still
etched – sometimes faintly, others clear as day – in the stonework above
the door or window of a branch.
Friend of Martins Bank Archive, Robert Montgomery, has since 2009
been on a mission to photograph former branches of the big banks, that have
fallen on their sword in the name of progress. In the process he has accumulated many
images of former Martins Branches. We look forward to being able to add
these to our Branch Network pages over the coming months, but as a taster,
we are showing here a side-by-side comparison of LIVERPOOL WOOLTON Branch.
On the left you see the branch in the 1960s, and on the right,
looking almost as if time has stood still for sixty years, you can see how
the branch looked a couple of days after it was closed in June of this
year.
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Liverpool Childwall Five Ways – Closed
02/10/2015
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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Liverpool Booker Avenue – Closed 19/02/2016
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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GARY OWENS
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South Shields Harton – Closed 10/05/2019
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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ROBIN LAWSON
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Buyer Beware…
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We have left the following article here once again for reference, to
help explain the position regarding the theft of copyrighted images for the
purposes of re-sale. There is a common misconception that if
you can Google an image, then it is “in the public domain” and you can do
what you want with it. Even some staff at eBay® believed this until they
were recently put right – if you
take or copy someone else’s work or property without their permission or
acknowledgement, and sell it on to make
even a penny out of it, this is breach of copyright, and the real owner
can take legal recourse to stop further theft and misuse of their property.
There are currently on eBay® a number of
listings of photographs for sale, showing scenes from the past and old
buildings including these four (and many more) Branches of Martins
Bank. These images originated on our
web site. As you can see, under our
agreement with the owner, we prominently display copyright. These images
have been copied and printed onto cheap photographic paper. The seller even
has the gall to add their own watermark to the displayed images to prevent
others from stealing them!!!
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STAINLAND
Image © Barclays
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SITTINGBOURNE
Image created by Martins Bank
Archive and © Barclays
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BURTON UPON TRENT
Image © Barclays
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WALLASEY
Image © Barclays
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As well as being
against copyright law, these items are worthless, having little more than
sentimental value – you will often find that collections and archives will
make images available free of charge for private use, but you MUST check
with them first. You should always check the seller’s right to copy the
image – reputable sites such as eBay® do now allow you to report copyright
infringement. For ANY item of memorabilia, the best thing to do is shop
around and compare prices – in the case of Martins Bank there are often
more than two hundred different items for sale on eBay® alone on any given
day. For printed material which
looks as if it has been copied, or actually claims to be a copy, ALWAYS
question the seller about copyright.
Best Regards, Jonathan.
Westmorland, Sunday 31ST March 2024
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WHILST MARTINS BANK
ARCHIVE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE DAY-TO-DAY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF THE
BARCLAYS GROUP OF COMPANIES,
WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTINUED GENEROUS GUIDANCE, ADVICE
AND SUPPORT OF BARCLAYS
GROUP ARCHIVES IN THE BUILDING AND SHAPING OF THIS ONLINE SOCIAL HISTORY.
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