Ripon has suffered its second banking blow in the space of nine weeks, with the announcement that the Halifax Bank branch will close on November 14.

The closure of the branch on Market Square South, comes after Barclays advised its customers in May that it is closing its branch on August 25.

Reacting to the closure announcement, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret:

“This is a bad news for Ripon, as we will be going from three high street banks to one, with the city left with just the HSBC branch.

“We are a growing city whose population is set to increase by up to a quarter by 2030 with new housing coming on stream.

“Among that increased population there will be many elderly people who either do not know how to use online banking, or are fearful of it.”

Closing on August 25 – Barclays Bank in Market Square East

Cllr Williams, added:

“With Christmas just four months away, the timing could not be worse for Ripon’s independent retailers, particularly due to the fact that after the Barclays and Halifax closures, residents and tourists visiting the city centre will not have access to cash machines outside normal trading hours.

“Not everybody wants to pay for a meal in a restaurant or a drink in a pub, with a plastic card.”

Figures produced by the Halifax as part of its explanation of the closure decision, shows that 22 percent of branch customers are 75 and above, while a further 37 percent are aged between 55 and 74.

The Halifax explains its decision

In its announcement, the bank, said:

“Following an in-depth review, this branch will close on 14th November 2022

“Like many other high street businesses, we’ve seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years as more customers choose to do most of their everyday banking online.

“We’re responding to the way our customers use our branches. We’ll continue to invest in our branch network, but we have to make sure our branches are where customers need and use them most.

“As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often. In addition the majority of customers are also using alternative ways to bank.”

Knaresborough’s banking hub could be open by the end of the year after a meeting last week put plans in motion.

The closure of the Halifax bank on Market Place last year left Knaresborough without a bank and just two ATMs, which often run out of cash.

In December, Knaresborough was picked to be one of five pilot areas for new shared banking hubs by the Access to Cash Action Group.

Under the scheme, a building in Knaresborough will provide help with general banking queries and more specific issues, such as power of attorney and opening accounts.

Representatives from various banks will work in the hub on a rotational basis. The hub itself will be fitted out by the Post Office.

Last week, representatives of the town including the mayor, Cllr Christine Willoughby, borough councillor Phil Ireland and Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce representative Charlotte Gale met with the action group to discuss what Knaresborough needs.

Businesses have said the town needs an additional ATM and for banks to be open later than usual business hours.

Ms Gale took these points forward to a meeting with the action group yesterday. She said:

“It’s been challenging for businesses with the pandemic but losing the last bank in Knaresborough was an additional stress. We need to manage expectations but the hub will definitely allow people to pay in and take out cash and get the advice they need.

“We’re still talking to locals about what they need, the managing groups wants to make sure the solution meets the needs of the town.”

A location for the bank is still yet to be decided. A number of empty high street units have been suggested including the former Fultons Foods unit on the high street

The former Fultons Foods

Read more:

• Knaresborough businesses oppose pedestrianisation plan
• Road train could transport people around hilly Knaresborough

Cat Farrow, from the Access to Cash Action Group, said:

“We understand how important the new banking hub will be to Knaresborough and we’re working hard to make it happen as quickly as possible. The hub is fully funded and we’re actively exploring a number of possible sites.

“We’re confident that the banking hub will be open before the end of the year.”

To have a say on the services the banking hub offers, complete this survey.

Visitors to Knaresborough Christmas Market are being urged to bring cash with them amid concerns the town’s two cash machines could run out of money.

Chair of the organising committee, Hazel Haas, has said the availability of cash in the town is an ongoing issue. But due to the closure of the Halifax bank this year the situation has become more concerning.

With just two cash machines remaining at Tesco and Sainsburys, there is real concern they will run out of money due to the number of visitors.

Ms Haas said the committee had contacted both supermarkets who said they had filled the machines to their maximum in preparation. However, she said even in previous years, even with four cash machines, there had still been a shortage.

Ms Haas said:

“It’s an ongoing problem. The reality is we’ve been running out of cash for years, some bank should really take it up and sort out the problem. We’ve done all we can and spoken to the two supermarkets. We can’t do anymore other than ask people to bring cash with them.”

Around 50 stalls will be in place on the town’s Market Square this weekend. Most will take card payments but some of the smaller traders would still prefer cash.

Ms Haas has urged visitors to come with cash rather than relying on local ATM’s.

Read more:

• ATM outage frustrates Knaresborough stallholders
• Knaresborough’s last bank to close

The loss of the Halifax bank, on Market Square, has left businesses having to bank in other nearby towns or queuing at the Post Office.

Talking about the Christmas markets returning after last year’s cancellation, due to covid, Hazel Haas said:

“I’m really looking forward to it, there’s a real buzz about the town already. People need something to their spirts and I think the market and the fireworks will add to the festive spirit, definitely.”

The market is open 10am to 5pm Saturday, December 4 and Sunday, December 5.

It will culminate with a fireworks display over Knaresborough’s iconic viaduct at 4.30pm on Sunday, December 5.

Banks are being urged to consider collaborating in North Yorkshire to create one-stop shops for their services on high streets.

The closure of banks has been keenly felt in the Harrogate district recently.

The Halifax closed in Knaresborough this month, leaving a town with a population of 15,000 without a bank.

This prompted Harrogate Borough Council to conduct a survey on what facilities Knaresborough people would like to see in the town.

Between 2015 and the end of this year a projected 340 bank and building society branches will have closed across Yorkshire, leaving 386 branches.

HSBC recently announced it would shut its branches in Northallerton and Richmond.

A meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Richmondshire constituency committee heard a scarcity of banks was proving particularly challenging in rural areas, where people suffer with poor broadband and mobile coverage, and there are higher populations of older customers.

One resident, Georgie Sale, told the meeting the branch closures displayed “a lack of understanding in how rural communities work”.

She said as a result of the closures she had been left feeling “terribly vulnerable” while queuing for 30 minutes to pay in the proceeds from a village hall fundraiser at her local post office, which is now located at the back of WH Smiths.

Read more:

• Knaresborough’s last bank to close on Monday
• Harrogate police tell public not to visit banks for the ‘social aspect’

Councillors said customers wanting to use banking services faced horrendous queues in post offices as their staff had been overwhelmed since the banks closed.

The meeting heard how access to bank services for numerous communities was reliant on just one firm continuing to operate.

A council spokesman told the meeting although the council recognised the issues being highlighted and would continue to raise concerns, neither the authority nor the government had any power to stop bank closures.

Rural areas losing out

Following an inquiry into the issue by the authority’s corporate and partnerships scrutiny committee inquiry in 2019, the council carried out a review of sites where cash machines could be located.

However, Liberal Democrat councillor Bryn Griffiths said the issue was far wider than just cash machines and said places where people could deal with someone person to person, particularly for complex transactions, were needed.

He said:

“Not everybody wants to use or trusts IT. I think we should be encouraging banks to get together and knock their heads together and perhaps join up and provide some sort of banking services facility. I do feel we are losing out in the rural areas significantly.

“What we should be doing is encouraging banks to talk and work together to provide services to rural communities. It is clear they are just upping shop and walking away. It is not good enough.”

The meeting was told one-stop shop banks, offering not only personal banking services and loans, but also investment advice, investment vehicles and insurance policies, were common in other countries, such as Sweden, and the meeting heard calls for the county’s MPs to promote the concept to banks.

Conservative Upper Dales councillor Yvonne Peacock said local solutions were needed as every community was different. She added: “That is probably the only way forward. We can’t tell these big banks what to do unfortunately, that is their businesses.”