The Cumberland pledges to stay on as other banks leave the high street
The Cumberland Building Society has committed to remain in the communities it serves in a bid to support local consumers and businesses to thrive whilst other major financial institutions leave.
The commitment comes after customers, local residents and business owners said they want financial institutions to maintain an active presence in their communities. Today, The Cumberland is reaffirming its long-term commitment to those communities, at a time when major banks and building societies continue to close branches and withdraw from high streets across the UK.
New research from the building society found more than a quarter of people (26%) across the North-West and Scottish Borders view high street decline as one of the biggest issues facing them and their families.
The building society’s research also found 32% of respondents in Dumfries and Galloway and 28% of those in Cumbria said high street decline was a top issue facing their local community.
More than a quarter of those surveyed in Lancashire (27%) and 26% of those in Preston recognised it as a pressing concern.
The research follows the closure of major banks and building societies from Britain’s high streets, with approximately 6,600 branches closing since 2015, leaving not just a financial gap for consumers, but a gap in the very fabric of their communities.
The Cumberland’s decision to stay is a considered one, shaped by what customers and residents across the region have said they want from their building society, ensuring people remain connected to in-person banking services in the areas other organisations have left.
The decision follows a region-wide Community Conversations listening programme commissioned by CEO Stuart Miller, which included drop-in sessions in shopping centres across the heartland where residents were asked what mattered most to them. The message was consistent: keep your branches open. Customers were clear that having a financial institution on the high street was central to the financial resilience of their community.
The importance of that presence is also backed by research from the Building Society Association, which found that 91% of people say their local branch is important to their financial wellbeing and 75% say it makes managing money easier. The same research found 96 percent of people believe branches help keep high streets thriving.
Stuart Miller, chief executive of The Cumberland Building Society, said: “These findings reflect the concerns we hear every day from the communities we serve. The high street is not just a place to shop, it is where people bank, where businesses trade and where the community comes together.
“When banks leave, they take more than a service with them. At The Cumberland, being an active member of our community is not optional, it is fundamental to who we are so we simply won’t follow the crowd and leave. Quite the opposite, we’ll double down by publicly committing to stay and going further with a multi-million pound investment programme into the branch network.”