Companies That You Expect to Disappear Soon

Sonic1234 · 10 May 2026

Harpo said:
I’d not miss our Cancer Research shop after getting moaned at for bringing stuff i

This is something that's never gone away after COVID. Used to be you could drop a bag off at the back of a charity shop at any time. Then COVID brought in capacity limits and appointments to donate and it's never gone away, I think a lot of shops have enjoyed having a clearer back room (and less work) too much! Also charity shops are pickier now, especially the "boutique" ones. Gone are the days of rummaging through clutter in a shop that smelt damp to find a gem, staffed by a granny glad of raising a few quid for the cats (Get a train to Bexhill if you still want to experience this).

While I do respect those that give their time for charity, there is a lot of unprofessionalism in charity retail. I've heard donors being chastised many times, some saying they'll never return (not the threat people think it is in this overpopulated world!), and some who think the closing time is the time they should be on the bus home by.

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Peter Mugridge · 10 May 2026

Sonic1234 said:
This is something that's never gone away after COVID. Used to be you could drop a bag off at the back of a charity shop at any time. Then COVID brought in capacity limits and appointments to donate and it's never gone away, I think a lot of shops have enjoyed having a clearer back room (and less work) too much! Also charity shops are pickier now, especially the "boutique" ones. Gone are the days of rummaging through clutter in a shop that smelt damp to find a gem, staffed by a granny glad of raising a few quid for the cats (Get a train to Bexhill if you still want to experience this).

While I do respect those that give their time for charity, there is a lot of unprofessionalism in charity retail. I've heard donors being chastised many times, some saying they'll never return (not the threat people think it is in this overpopulated world!), and some who think the closing time is the time they should be on the bus home by.

Certainly in Epsom we don't need an appointment to donate - there's about half a dozen charity shops, and usually it's no problem to find one of them that will take whatever it is you're trying to get rid of.

Naturally, they will refuse anything that's in an awful condition, I wouldn't expect otherwise, but they do seem between them all to accept most things.

eyebrook1961 · 10 May 2026

With most charity shops now using t'internet to value items before putting them out for sale, there are no longer many of the "bargains" that you could often come across - to be honest I would rather sit in the comfort of my own home and buy stuff that interests me in particular and have it delivered to my home off one of the internet auction sites. I do donate to a charity of my choice but no longer go into such shops wherever we go because there's no enjoyment now looking through stuff in anticipation that you might find something really exciting.

Some years ago my brother managed one of the three branches that we had in the town for one locally based charity, his branch dealt with records, cassettes, cd's, vidoes, dvd's and all associated items (record players, cd players etc) - this being at a time when there was still a thriving market for such things (unlike nowadays where there's a market stall selling dvd's now at 10p a time). He would tell me that this charity were so awash with donations that there was a luton van run to the local tip each week loaded with all the excess, and that included stuff that had only just been donated but they "hadn't the time" to go through it at that particular moment

jon81uk · 10 May 2026

Sonic1234 said:
This is something that's never gone away after COVID. Used to be you could drop a bag off at the back of a charity shop at any time. Then COVID brought in capacity limits and appointments to donate and it's never gone away, I think a lot of shops have enjoyed having a clearer back room (and less work) too much! Also charity shops are pickier now, especially the "boutique" ones. Gone are the days of rummaging through clutter in a shop that smelt damp to find a gem, staffed by a granny glad of raising a few quid for the cats (Get a train to Bexhill if you still want to experience this).

While I do respect those that give their time for charity, there is a lot of unprofessionalism in charity retail. I've heard donors being chastised many times, some saying they'll never return (not the threat people think it is in this overpopulated world!), and some who think the closing time is the time they should be on the bus home by.

I've never needed an appointment to drop stuff off at a charity shop and not really had stuff refused, but I understand why they do so, as commercial premisses they need to pay for refuse collection so any unsaleable tat costs them money to get taken away in the bin.

35B · 10 May 2026

eyebrook1961 said:
With most charity shops now using t'internet to value items before putting them out for sale, there are no longer many of the "bargains" that you could often come across - to be honest I would rather sit in the comfort of my own home and buy stuff that interests me in particular and have it delivered to my home off one of the internet auction sites. I do donate to a charity of my choice but no longer go into such shops wherever we go because there's no enjoyment now looking through stuff in anticipation that you might find something really exciting.

Some years ago my brother managed one of the three branches that we had in the town for one locally based charity, his branch dealt with records, cassettes, cd's, vidoes, dvd's and all associated items (record players, cd players etc) - this being at a time when there was still a thriving market for such things (unlike nowadays where there's a market stall selling dvd's now at 10p a time). He would tell me that this charity were so awash with donations that there was a luton van run to the local tip each week loaded with all the excess, and that included stuff that had only just been donated but they "hadn't the time" to go through it at that particular moment

I give to BHF because they claim Gift Aid on what they make on what I donate, access is easy, and they aren't overly fussy at the door. If I had anything valuable that I wanted to dispose of and wasn't planning to keep the proceeds, I'd sell it myself and then donate the proceeds - charity shops don't always get the best prices.

Merle Haggard · 10 May 2026

Sprinter107 said:
I took some hardly worn clothing into the British Heart Foundation Shop. It wasn't a nice experience. The member of staff certainly wasnt very nice, I shan't be going in there again.

I had a similar experience with BHF when a relative died and I cleared out . I only took in clothes still sealed in the original wrappers but the staff found it a bother to deal with me and left me to carry them some distance to a specific spot inside the store. I was on the verge of driving away.

wilbers · 10 May 2026

I helped out years ago at one. For a few years the excess stock problem was solved by hiring a van once a month and moving it from 3 or 4 shops to the Gateshead branch that never got enough stock donated and was unviable without the van run. That was a little before the companies that would collect the excess were around in this area.

Temple Meads · 14 May 2026

Russel said:
Surprised my local store isn't on the list, I never see anyone in there.

The Exeter shop always seemed busy, but is now closed. I did have the suspicion that lots of the footfall was just browsers though. They are focusing more on big retail units now and it will be interesting to see if this strategy works out for them.

Harpo · 15 May 2026

Harpo said:
I tripped across a Wimpy in Shrewsbury on a visit there last year.

Just been sent the attached photo of the Shrewsbury Wimpy now looking very closed.

skyhigh · 15 May 2026

Harpo said:
Just been sent the attached photo of the Shrewsbury Wimpy now looking very closed.

It's becoming a Turkish restaurant.

dorsetdesiro · 18 May 2026

Three bank brands are set to disappear soon, Halifax to be phased out by Lloyds, Virgin Money & TSB to be absorbed into Nationwide & Santander respectively.

I bank with both Nationwide & VM so I'd go elsewhere once VM disappears for good, but with the big banks closing down branches also with number of banks shrinking down to the bigger names thus offering less choice which is not competitive.

I probably will have to look at the digital banks when the time comes

BuhSnarf · 18 May 2026

dorsetdesiro said:
Three bank brands are set to disappear soon, Halifax to be phased out by Lloyds, Virgin Money & TSB to be absorbed into Nationwide & Santander respectively.

I bank with both Nationwide & VM so I'd go elsewhere once VM disappears for good, but with the big banks closing down branches also with number of banks shrinking down to the bigger names thus offering less choice which is not competitive.

I probably will have to look at the digital banks when the time comes

I don't think there is less choice. If anything there is currently more choice for everyday banking than there ever has been.

Whilst there might be less choice of the old guard, there are many now very stable neobanks. Combined with the fact that nearly all physical transactions can be done at the Post Office the need for an actual bricks & mortar bank is less. In fact with most bank branches they are merely just a front end, not being able to deal with any of the complex or specialist things themselves anyway so whilst they may be a friendly face they aren't any more able to sort out problems than a chat or telephony colleague.

35B · 18 May 2026

BuhSnarf said:
I don't think there is less choice. If anything there is currently more choice for everyday banking than there ever has been.

Whilst there might be less choice of the old guard, there are many now very stable neobanks. Combined with the fact that nearly all physical transactions can be done at the Post Office the need for an actual bricks & mortar bank is less. In fact with most bank branches they are merely just a front end, not being able to deal with any of the complex or specialist things themselves anyway so whilst they may be a friendly face they aren't any more able to sort out problems than a chat or telephony colleague.

And one of the better for branch networks is Nationwide, though they aren't always brilliant at joining the dots

Uncle Buck · 18 May 2026

The demise of Virgin Money doesn’t massively surprise me- it was neither as solid and reliable seeming as the old Clydesdale Bank which it replaced, nor as trendy and modern seeming as banks like Monzo/Starling/Revolut- and it makes me prophesise that Virgin itself may decline in the next twenty years. It’s not a company as such, basically a massive franchise, and I can’t help feel it now feels rather dated.

dorsetdesiro · 18 May 2026

Uncle Buck said:
The demise of Virgin Money doesn’t massively surprise me- it was neither as solid and reliable seeming as the old Clydesdale Bank which it replaced, nor as trendy and modern seeming as banks like Monzo/Starling/Revolut- and it makes me prophesise that Virgin itself may decline in the next twenty years. It’s not a company as such, basically a massive franchise, and I can’t help feel it now feels rather dated.

Yes, I have an inkling Virgin Media one day will be all "O2", as the Virgin name is licensed to Liberty Global, or merged into Sky or ITV something like that

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 May 2026 ==

BuhSnarf said:
I don't think there is less choice. If anything there is currently more choice for everyday banking than there ever has been.

Whilst there might be less choice of the old guard, there are many now very stable neobanks. Combined with the fact that nearly all physical transactions can be done at the Post Office the need for an actual bricks & mortar bank is less. In fact with most bank branches they are merely just a front end, not being able to deal with any of the complex or specialist things themselves anyway so whilst they may be a friendly face they aren't any more able to sort out problems than a chat or telephony colleague.

The dinosaur in me prefers face to face banking & visiting branches I found more effective sorting out my cards, when problematic, and quicker than phoning banks which I loathe. With less banks presence other than the ubiquitous Barclays, Natwest, HSBC etc and less branches, that killing off Halifax, TSB, Virgin and the smaller names give less options etc.

Digital banks would be harder to deal without face-to-face, branches etc, so hope their systems & security are reliable for when the bank card gets blocked when the bank computer wrongly thinks fraud is committed that I have to get in contact to get the card unblocked!

jon0844 · 18 May 2026

Uncle Buck said:
The demise of Virgin Money doesn’t massively surprise me- it was neither as solid and reliable seeming as the old Clydesdale Bank which it replaced, nor as trendy and modern seeming as banks like Monzo/Starling/Revolut- and it makes me prophesise that Virgin itself may decline in the next twenty years. It’s not a company as such, basically a massive franchise, and I can’t help feel it now feels rather dated.

I feel Virgin doesn't have the same branding reach it once did, possibly because Sir Richard Branson was so good at courting media attention, with lavish press events and dancing girls (somewhat risque and probably not the done thing today) to launch every new Virgin product - whether created by Virgin itself or a licencing deal.

Today there really is nothing more than a hope that people think positively of the Virgin brand through a long-standing association, which recent generations don't have.

Of course, the same could be said for O2 and many other long-standing brands. It's nothing a lot of advertising money can't fix, but Virgin was the industry disrupter in the past. Now it feels like it's the corporation that others seek to beat.

35B · 18 May 2026

dorsetdesiro said:
Yes, I have an inkling Virgin Media one day will be all "O2", as the Virgin name is licensed to Liberty Global, or merged into Sky or ITV something like that

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 May 2026 ==

The dinosaur in me prefers face to face banking & visiting branches I found more effective sorting out my cards, when problematic, and quicker than phoning banks which I loathe. With less banks presence other than the ubiquitous Barclays, Natwest, HSBC etc and less branches, that killing off Halifax, TSB, Virgin and the smaller names give less options etc.

Digital banks would be harder to deal without face-to-face, branches etc, so hope their systems & security are reliable for when the bank card gets blocked when the bank computer wrongly thinks fraud is committed that I have to get in contact to get the card unblocked!

I suggest you look at the Nationwide branch network - they're one of the more committed to branch banking. As for Virgin Money, the old Clydesdale branch here disappeared long before the takeover, despite having been rebranded.

Uncle Buck · 18 May 2026

35B said:
I suggest you look at the Nationwide branch network - they're one of the more committed to branch banking. As for Virgin Money, the old Clydesdale branch here disappeared long before the takeover, despite having been rebranded.

My understanding is that Virgin Money was a standalone operation which then became a trading name of the Clydesdale Bank (of which the Yorkshire Bank was an existing trading name). When people say “Virgin Money took over the Clydesdale/Yorkshire” they should actually say “the Clydesdale took over Virgin Money” although that is still not entirely accurate- it is more that they adopted the name of an existing entity.

jon0844 said:
Today there really is nothing more than a hope that people think positively of the Virgin brand through a long-standing association, which recent generations don't have.

jon0844 said:
Virgin was the industry disrupter in the past. Now it feels like it's the corporation that others seek to beat.

Yes, it was cool, youthful and exciting in the 80s and 90s, today it seems rather passé. One exception maybe Virgin Atlantic which is regarded as a luxurious airline.

GusB · 18 May 2026

dorsetdesiro said:
The dinosaur in me prefers face to face banking & visiting branches I found more effective sorting out my cards, when problematic, and quicker than phoning banks which I loathe. With less banks presence other than the ubiquitous Barclays, Natwest, HSBC etc and less branches, that killing off Halifax, TSB, Virgin and the smaller names give less options etc

It makes little difference here, really. After the Halifax/Bank of Scotland merger, the Halifax branch on my local High Street was closed and everything moved into the Bank of Scotland branch. I suspect that the current Virgin Money will be retained and re-branded and the existing Nationwide will be closed; it's rather small and could do with bigger premises.

Whether or not Santander relocates to the larger TSB office remains to be seen. At one point there were three Santanders (former Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley) within a very short distance and it retained the smallest of the three.

Much of the variety disappeared over 20 years ago when most of the building societies de-mutualised and merged. I'm thankful that we still have a fairly decent high street banking presence because most of the smaller towns nearby have either lost or will likely lose their last banks soon.

Russel · 18 May 2026

Regarding bank branch closures, I'm with Nationwide so all good at the moment, but I think I've only been into my local branch once or twice in since Covid and those times were just to pay checks in...

That said, the couple of times I have been in, there has only ever been a couple of elderly people in, which, without wanting to sound harsh, is a dwindling demographic, so bank branch closures really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Trackman · 18 May 2026

Well, I was with Halifax banking when it first began as I had a savings accounts, so I'll see its demise.

gswindale · 18 May 2026

dorsetdesiro said:
Yes, I have an inkling Virgin Media one day will be all "O2", as the Virgin name is licensed to Liberty Global, or merged into Sky or ITV something like that

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 May 2026 ==

The dinosaur in me prefers face to face banking & visiting branches I found more effective sorting out my cards, when problematic, and quicker than phoning banks which I loathe. With less banks presence other than the ubiquitous Barclays, Natwest, HSBC etc and less branches, that killing off Halifax, TSB, Virgin and the smaller names give less options etc.

Digital banks would be harder to deal without face-to-face, branches etc, so hope their systems & security are reliable for when the bank card gets blocked when the bank computer wrongly thinks fraud is committed that I have to get in contact to get the card unblocked!

From experience, most of the banking apps have the ability to block/unblock cards in real time, so if the algorithm suspects fraud, then if it is a valid transaction, you should be able to use the app to confirm it as valid and then unfreeze the card. I'm also seeing more occasions in which I have to use the app to verify and authorise online purchases, so it seems reasonable to think that MFA will be the default for purchases in the future.

Uncle Buck · 18 May 2026

GusB said:
Much of the variety disappeared over 20 years ago when most of the building societies de-mutualised and merged. I'm thankful that we still have a fairly decent high street banking presence because most of the smaller towns nearby have either lost or will likely lose their last banks soon.

It really does have a bad effect on a high street when the banks go. Near me, Anniesland in Glasgow had a Bank of Scotland, a Royal Bank of Scotland, a TSB and a Nationwide, now has none; Bearsden had a BOS, RBS, TSB and Clydesdale, now none; Milngavie still has an RBS and BOS, open six hours a day, five days a week, and has lost the Clydesdale, TSB and Santander. Most of these units are still empty; how many jobs lost, and how many people not coming to the high street. Also there is not an ATM at Anniesland or Bearsden, which are quite busy places. I know why it happened but it’s been a very bad development.

Iskra · 18 May 2026

jon0844 said:
I feel Virgin doesn't have the same branding reach it once did, possibly because Sir Richard Branson was so good at courting media attention, with lavish press events and dancing girls (somewhat risque and probably not the done thing today) to launch every new Virgin product - whether created by Virgin itself or a licencing deal.

Today there really is nothing more than a hope that people think positively of the Virgin brand through a long-standing association, which recent generations don't have.

Of course, the same could be said for O2 and many other long-standing brands. It's nothing a lot of advertising money can't fix, but Virgin was the industry disrupter in the past. Now it feels like it's the corporation that others seek to beat.

Virgin cruises is probably the best example of the Virgin brand still being at (or close to) the cutting edge.

At the end of the day, it’s a personality-led brand and you can’t blame him for wanting to step back somewhat and enjoy life. He probably isn’t overly concerned with attaining any more wealth, or if he is he can probably do it more easily on the stock market.

Backroom_boy · 18 May 2026

dorsetdesiro said:
Yes, I have an inkling Virgin Media one day will be all "O2", as the Virgin name is licensed to Liberty Global, or merged into Sky or ITV something like that

Yes I've heard this is happening right now. The business side is being branded O2, and why keep paying Virgin for branding if you have a perfectly good brand in O2, so i expect it to be dropped soon*

(*as soon as the agreement can be wriggled out of/runs it length)

david1212 · 18 May 2026

Sonic1234 said:
Cancer Research UK are closing shops. While the charity isn't disappearing, their shops will be disappearing from 190 high streets.

High street giant in place since 1982 closing 190 shops — full list

Several shops have already closed, with many more to follow

www.mirror.co.uk

I was told by someone connected with charity retail that over a set period the receipts from their retail were nominally £200m with costs of £195m so a return of just 2.5%. Hence a review of each store and those listed in the linked article to be closed with the remainder to be monitored.

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dorsetdesiro said:
Three bank brands are set to disappear soon ... Virgin Money to be absorbed into Nationwide....

My 'stocks and shares' ISA became Octopus Money. The cash one, 12month fixed rate, from this will become Nationwide. Unless the latter improve the rate it will get transferred next March.

johntea · 19 May 2026

I opened a new bank account with Barclays today (only to do a strategic switch of another bank account doing nothing for the £200 switch bonus they have on at the moment!)...it took less than 5 minutes to apply using the app and have access to my shiny new account...a far cry from the days when you would visit a branch and the manager would probably shower you with tea and biscuits!

It's a bit like railway tickets really, 90% of people will probably be doing everything digitally but there will always be the 10% who prefer not to, the way things seem to be heading is these 'banking hubs' (run by the Post Office) where you get the Post Office staff full time for general cash deposit/withdrawal/payments and the like then different bank staff assigned days throughout the week if you needed account advice etc

Due to my switching shenanigans I've probably 'banked' with over 10 different brands in the last few years and have set foot in a branch maybe once or twice just to deposit some cash in, the last time I walked in to a Lloyds one of the staff members was trying to push mortgages so was slightly disappointed to find I didn't need one

Virgin Media and O2 is a weird one, I've had Virgin Media since the NTL/Telewest days and my @blueyonder email address is still up and running for that matter! Took out a SIM only contract with O2 last year which gave me doubled data on my SIM plan which was active within about a week, it was also supposed to double the speed of my Virgin broadband...which it finally did...but took 10 months to activate that side for some reason!

Snow1964 · 4 Jun 2026

European cargo, which has A340 freight planes from Bournemouth has apparently collapsed, and gone into administration

DavidGrain · 4 Jun 2026

Not disappearing but now under new ownership is M & S Bank which under a court approved restructuring has been absorbed into HSBC. Customers will still keep their credit cards, accounts, insurance policies and shopping loyalty points under the M & S branding but they will now be customers of HSBC. If they have accounts separately under HSBC or First Direct, they need to check that the total of their accounts does not exceed the limit for the bank guarantee as all three now trade under the same banking licence.

Djgr · 4 Jun 2026

DavidGrain said:
Not disappearing but now under new ownership is M & S Bank which under a court approved restructuring has been absorbed into HSBC. Customers will still keep their credit cards, accounts, insurance policies and shopping loyalty points under the M & S branding but they will now be customers of HSBC. If they have accounts separately under HSBC or First Direct, they need to check that the total of their accounts does not exceed the limit for the bank guarantee as all three now trade under the same banking licence.

Once upon a time, supermarkets developed banks, on the basis that they were better brands. Now these days are gone with Tesco, Sainsbury's and now M&S withdrawing.

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