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The Leeds branch of Lewis’s Department Store opens its doors in 1932. Through our association with the British Newspaper Archive, we are very lucky to have these advertisements for Lewis’s Bank Leeds, from 1945 and 1934. Note the optimism of the advertisements on this page, one of which proudly declares: “Why Lewis’s Bank is such a Popular Bank”. Martins Bank Magazine calls in at Lewis’s Bank Leeds on 28 September 1959, and finds a pleasant branch with a happy staff, and even a view to the outside of the building…

WHEN we started out on our series of visits to the branches of Lewis's Bank we did so with a certain feeling of apprehension. After visiting Liverpool and Manchester what could we find different about the others to make descriptions of them of interest to our readers? We need not have worried, for just as no two individuals are exactly alike, so no two groups of people fit into the same mould. We visited the Leeds branch on Monday, September 28th. So far as size is concerned Glasgow should have been next on the list but a heavy autumn travelling programme made it more convenient to take Leeds into it and so the visit to Glasgow is a pleasure deferred. The Manager, Mr. G. K. Moore, was in conference with a customer when we arrived and whilst waiting for him we sized up our surroundings.

Of the four branches so far visited this seemed to me to be the pleasantest from the staff point of view. In the first place it is the first we have seen with any outlook, the Manager's office and one side of the branch having an outlook on to St. John's Church and a tree-covered space which was formerly a burial ground.

While pondering on these differences we were joined by Mr. Moore, who has been Manager at Leeds since 1952. He came from the District Bank in 1951 in order to take up the post of Assistant Manager at Liverpool. His service with the District Bank commenced in 1937 and embraced their branches in Bootle, Aintree, Orrell Park, Ormskirk, Burscough and finally at Dale Street in the Trustee Department. During the last war he served with the 8th Army, 7th Armoured Division, in the Middle East and finally in the liberation of Norway, being away five and a half years. The first thing which greets a customer at the counter is an attractive notice on the counter screen which reads: "Mr. G. K. Moore is the Manager of this office. He will be glad to see you at any time by arrangement." This is a new idea which is to be installed at all the branches: seeing it for the first time we were most impressed. We endeavour to impress the personalities of our cashiers on the customers by means of the nameplates; why not that of the manager, too ? It seemed to me that he instantly became an individual as a result of the notice and an individual, moreover, who was accessible and wanted you to know it.

Another idea which struck us as very good indeed was Mr. Moore's "state of the work", a progress chart. This is fastened on the staff notice board and is in several parts. One section deals with the interest on the accounts, which is calculated monthly, and the balancing of the passbooks. There is a column for the names of the members of the staff and the ledger sections and a column for each month of the year. As the work is completed the officer initials in the 'month' column, SO that one can instantly see when work is behindhand as it inevitably becomes on some sections through holidays, illness, etc. Another chart sets out all the work to be done, with the names of the clerks responsible for each job. A third covers the periodic balancing of the ledgers. The staff like this chart system as everyone knows the exact state of the work at any given moment, while the advantage from the Manager's point of view is obvious. There are three other male members of the staff, R. Fleming, who has been there a year, and D. Hardisty and R. L. Gascoigne, each of whom has five months' service. All three are attending night classes for their Institute of Bankers' examinations in preparation for three subjects of the Part 1 examination for which they are sitting next year. They are all nice types of young manhood who should do well. It is interesting to note that they are getting to know other young men from our Leeds branches through meeting them at these night classes.

The girls number seven, and the senior is Miss M. L. Cairncross who has been there over ten years. Her father is on the staff of our Bradford branch. Her position is that of chief clerk. All the others are under 21, the youngest being 16, and they mostly come from places round about, some as far as ten miles away. The first cashier is Miss Marjorie Prince, with Miss Joan M. Keel as second and Miss Winifred Liddan third. The backroom girls are Miss Pat Kirk, Miss Sheila Marsden and Miss Janet Jackson.

Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury 4 Jul 1945

Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd.

Advertising Images created courtesy of

THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD by kind permission of

THE BRITISH NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE

Yorkshire Evening Post 4 Jun 1934

The Children's Counter does not seem to be quite so busy here as in other places and does not require a full time cashier. On the advertising side we were pleased to note the efforts made to bring the services of the bank to the people entering the store and an interesting idea was that of placing a promotional leaflet in each of the paper bags used in certain departments. We motored out to the Harewood Arms, at the entrance gates to Harewood House, residence of the Princess Royal, for lunch, just before the conclusion of a most interesting visit.

Miss E J Keel On the Staff 1959	Miss J Jackson On the Staff 1959	Miss M L Cairncross Chief Clerk 1959	Miss M Prince On the Staff 1959	Miss P Kirk On the Staff 1959	Miss S Marsden On the Staff 1959
Miss W Liddan On the Staff 1959	Mr D Hardisty On the Staff 1959	Mr R L Gascoigne On the Staff 1959	Mr R Leeming On the Staff 1959	Mr J A White Manager 1964? to 1967	Miss Anne Prince Cashier 1966
Mr Ken Moore Manager 1967

Sort Code: and/or National Number: Title: Address: Telephone Number: Manager:

11-90-90 74-054 Leeds The Headrow Leeds 1 Yorkshire Leeds 31313 Mr J A White (1964)

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