![](Latest%20News%20-%20Martins%20Bank%20Archive_files/image014.jpg) 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.
Student Banking
Our theme for July 2024 is
Student Banking, a concept first introduced by Martins Bank with the opening
on 1 May 1958, of a specific student branch of the bank at 164 Brownlow
Hill Liverpool (pictured right).
From then, until the late 1990s, the competition between the banks
for the student banking market was strong, with more and more incentives
being offered to students to help them stretch their grant money a little
further. The provision of “free
gifts” peaked around 1992 with Barclays offering personal cassette players,
sports bags, tokens to be redeemed in music shops, and of course, free
banking, cheap or free overdrafts, credit cards and cheap graduate
loans. What began as an experiment
became a frantic race to sign up the lawyers doctors and scientists of
tomorrow, in the hope that they would go on to highly paid jobs and provide
banks with a rich seam of income from lending products. How much student
debt was actually written-off by the banks is likely to be a very large sum
that none of us will ever know! Martins
Bank operated student branches at ten sites across England, with student
services available at many more branches of the bank within reasonable
walking distance of other universities.
Sometimes the competition for a branch on campus was fierce and VERY
expensive, as in the case of Lancaster, where Martins needed very deep
pockets to secure its place there.
You can read much more, and visit the individual student branches by
exploring our STUDENT BANKING section.
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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 have
continued to dwindle, and the few that are left can be viewed – along with
a brief history and the option to visit the branch page for each one – by
visiting our special feature page THE REMAINING BRANCHES. 09/02/2024 – Barclays Wealth took the
decision to CLOSE their branch at Castletown Isle of Man, but this closure
was not recorded on the Barclays web site. 15/03/2024 – Following the RELOCATION in March of South Shields King
Street Branch from No 1 to Nos 64/66 King Street, another Martins
Branch was lost. Our “Branches Still Open” till stamp takes into account
these additional closures, and sadly this brings the number of original
Martins Branches still open into single figures for the first time..
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Martins Bank and Trade
Unions
UPDATED! 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. We have updated Martins
Bank and the Trade Unions to include the story of how the Staff
Association emerges towards the end of the Second World War as a
negotiator of terms and conditions for the employees of the Bank. You can
also read about how the Easter Bank Holiday of 1944 was ruined for many
staff by of all things, the introduction of the Pay as You Earn (PAYE)
Income Tax system!
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I bought the Bank
(continued)…
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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.
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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.
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Best Regards, Jonathan.
Westmorland, Sunday 30Th June 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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