The chances that any conventional bank will "disappear soon" (as per the thread title) are tiny.
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Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon
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Though a lot of "challenger" banks could.
I don;t think Nationwide are in any trouble, they are the largest of the mutual's (by a huge margin) and seem to be doing well enough, even through the financial crisis they still turned a profit and I know on signs they've had in/outside their branches have very much used the word "building society" when referencing banks branch closures with something along the lines of "Local Bank Closing, Try A Building Society Instead"
In regards to Nationwide, they gave the majority of their customers £100 earlier this year as part of their Fairer Share scheme as their profits exceeded expectations, so I wouldn't worry too much about them at the moment.
It was gratefully received by both myself and my partner, it paid for a meal out and two tanks of petrol with a bit of change left over!
It was gratefully received by both myself and my partner, it paid for a meal out and two tanks of petrol with a bit of change left over!
birchesgreen
Established Member
My wife got £100 earlier this year?? She kept that quiet 
WH Smith have announced that there store in Central Manchester will close on 2nd December 2023, thats another North West branch gone on top of the others already mentioned, its as though they want to leave the North West Region altogether, I suspect that they arent making a great deal of money and that all town centre and City Centre stores will close over the next few years in order to concentrate on Railway stations and Airports
My wife got £100 earlier this year?? She kept that quiet
I think you had to have two products with them as a minimum to qualify -- I've got two (mortgage and current account), and the wife's got current account and an ISA, for example.
My wife got £100 earlier this year?? She kept that quiet
I'm sure mine would have kept it quiet too, if I hadn't also received it!
Merle Haggard
Established Member
Today, my two neighbours and myself each received letters from what they now call 'nationwide' telling us about the re-brand. I wonder why a mutual building society needs to spend so much money doing this.
The previous logo had a recognisable picture of a house with a circle (the Sun? a tree? who knows). The new logo at first looks like a couple of random splurges - a broken biscuit? or possibly a bird's head? but if you really squint you can see it's te-rarr ! a house with a circle behind it. Wonder how much the branding company charged for that.
There's a housing crisis and expensive mortgages. Odd priority imo.
Peter Sarf
Established Member
But but... Its new its thrusting, its dynamic, (its expensive), its..... BS.
GatwickDepress
Established Member
It's Pac-Man eating a Monopoly hotel piece, obviously.
I suspect the rebrand is simply an aspect of digitalisation. Many other companies have rebranded with very simplistic geometric logos that stand out on a screen, but aren't terribly imaginative or appealing.
The Nationwide app was updated over the weekend, I wasn't aware of the rebrand until I spent a few minutes trying to work out where the app had gone on Monday, I only realized when I tried to redownload it from the app store...
Blindtraveler
Established Member
- Joined
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Not likely to disappear altogether but looks like Costa coffee are in a bit of trouble, a huge cull of high Street branches on the way evenly, widely reported across various media sources last night but was too tired to post
Iskra
Established Member
There is a repeat copy & paste article going around, full of hyperbole usually from the Sun, which refers to mass closures in alarmist fashion and then usually only references one store on a high street somewhere closing down in a months time or something.
Of course it’s closing high street stores that aren’t working anymore but still have high rents, all retailers are. It’s still opening stores elsewhere though; two just in Sheffield alone in the last 12 months. So Sheffield has lost one, gained two in the last 12 months, but of course that’s news that would gain less clicks…
They have shut 8 branches this year and are planning to close one more. That is perfectly normal for a store estate the size of theirs. They are a massive company owned by an even bigger company with deep pockets. The news stories are completely exaggerated for clicks.
In comparison to the 9 closures, how many branches have they opened this year? Clue - it's more than 9.
They aren't going anywhere or in any trouble.
I was reading something about Metro Bank and Barclays yesterday. What's with Metro Bank ?
Islineclear3_1
Established Member
This really annoyed me. Previously they spent ££££'s "upgrading" their branches and slyly reducing the number of manned cashiers. As a "member" and "shareholder"; I was never consulted or asked. And who has paid for all of this ... ??
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Serves 'em right with the greed, and outrageous prices !! Plus the staff attitudes of the many I have visited over time
Did you read the other posts above that suggest Costa is not going anywhere. Yes, the prices are high and I think the choice of snacks has deteriorated over the years (plus my son says their attempt at getting in on the bubble tea market has failed), but they're very popular.
People chuck loads of their disposable income on a coffee, or a coffee/snack to have a chat with friends or meeting, or even to work from one instead of being at home.
I'd say that if you're intending to sit in one for 30-60 minutes to work/read/chat the price isn't so bad. It's the fact you pay the same to take away.
Dai Corner
Established Member
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Presumably you were invited to the Annual General Meetings and given the opportunity to ask questions of the senior managers? My mother has occasionally written to Nationwide and received a written or telephone response.
As to who pays, that would be the members but they also benefit if costs are reduced or services enhanced.
Iskra
Established Member
The takeaway cups are bigger to compensate.
brad465
Veteran Member
Metro Bank needed to raise cash to shore itself up, which it appears to have sorted out for now. It sounds similar to what happened to Credit Suisse, but Metro Bank is considerably smaller.
Iskra
Established Member
You do realise it’s a luxury not a necessity? It’s entirely your choice to go there (or not). I’m sure there are cheaper places if you don’t mind it from a basic machine. Of course, the price of coffee (bought in dollars, with a weak pound) and food inflation at 16% is going to push prices up, that’s not a problem unique to Costa and a lot of people effectively voted for that, so I’m surprised it hasn’t been more popular
Costa is now bankrolled by Coca Cola and was bought for billions and they are investing lots in their existing stores and new ones, it’s not going anywhere soon.
Islineclear3_1
Established Member
Indeed and I'll only go there if I really want a "posh" coffee. Otherwise, I go to the nearest cafeYou do realise it’s a luxury not a necessity? It’s entirely your choice to go there (or not). I’m sure there are cheaper places if you don’t mind it from a basic machine. Of course, the price of coffee (bought in dollars, with a weak pound) and food inflation at 16% is going to push prices up, that’s not a problem unique to Costa and a lot of people effectively voted for that, so I’m surprised it hasn’t been more popular
Costa is now bankrolled by Coca Cola and was bought for billions and they are investing lots in their existing stores and new ones, it’s not going anywhere soon.
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Yes, but the opportunity for me to go has never arisen unfortunately, and so I have spoken to/and written to various branch managers and funnily enough had no satisfactory response as they have never sat in the jobs for long enough
Ashley Hill
Established Member
Not being part of this coffee culture I don’t like using Costa (or any coffee shop). If I get dragged into one by Mrs H I have tea.
dangie
On Moderation
I’m not particularly worried about the logo change but more bothered that they’ve spent money on doing it. My local Nationwide branch is now open just three days a week. Go in on those days and it’s a queue out the door, often with only one desk open.
Islineclear3_1
Established Member
And another building society I won't name is only open Monday-Friday. It stopped being open on a Saturday a long time ago which was really useful to me
Kings ferry coaches have issued notice of redundancy to all staff this morning.
I’ve seen a copy of the notice and parent company national express cite Kent as an unsuitable location and are closing their Kent depots as they are loss making.
I’ve seen a copy of the notice and parent company national express cite Kent as an unsuitable location and are closing their Kent depots as they are loss making.
Merle Haggard
Established Member
That's interesting because my recollection is that they expanded very rapidly around the time of coach de-reg, doing Kent commuter runs. The SE division was pretty dire at the time, and the ASLEF dispute had also prejudiced a lot of rail commuters against B.R., particularly in Kent. It was, I think, the first large London commuting by coach operation, and was seen at the time as the death knell of rail commuting. Maybe someone knows how many coaches they ran into London each weekday at their peak - it may have been into 3 figures.
Even in my memory it was every 15 mins.
they were acquired by national express a few years back. Looks like Nx are shutting anywhere not turning a profit.
Merle Haggard
Established Member
At the time of coach de-reg the view of B.R. passenger marketing people that I knew was that Mrs Thatcher's underlying reason behind it was to annihilate B.R.'s passenger business. There was no need to work out how to privatise B.R. - it would just wither and die. Rail was so un-competitive, and badly managed.
Express coach routes (and indeed coach private hire) seem to be doing that themselves now.