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 If ever an
example were needed to illustrate Martins’ mid-sixties “mid-life crisis”, the
opening of a Branch such as 35 Gloucester Road and at 84 PICCADILLY would fit the bill perfectly. An
expansion programme is in full swing, as more and more town and city centre prime
shopping units are rented and turned into branches. In the North, an ambitious programme of
renovations sees some branches completely rebuilt, and others given lavish
makeovers. Often it seems as if no expense has been spared.
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In Service: 28 October
1965 until 1978
Branch Exteriors ©
Barclays Ref 0030-1065
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  The Bank informs is
staff of the use of Italian Marble here, Cedar of Lebanon there, and some of
the Country’s top architects and designers,
notably brutalist architect Ernö Goldfinger and Robert and Christopher
Ironside, are brought in and allowed to run riot with imagination and budget
alike. In the meantime computerisation is on the agenda, with six figure sums
to be paid for equipment and programming. Something therefore has to give,
and with Martins Bank increasingly embarrassed by the amounts it is having to
borrow on the overnight market, the Bank of England suggests the unthinkable
– a merger! As for Gloucester Road,
well there is money to be made in this part of the Capital, where rents are
high, and the Bank can attract the kind of high net worth customer it needs
to make some serious cash. The orignal chemist’s shop (above right) is
completely transformed to provide a branch the people of Gloucester Road can
feel “at home” with. We are indebted
to friend of the Archive David Bassoli for donating the image below of the
Rolls Royce car outside the branch – a further indication of the disposable
income of the locals! The new branch
is given a very detailed write-up in Martins Bank Magazine…
  'why gloucester road?' one might ask; particularly if one does not know London
well. Three indications appeared in
the personal column of The Times on
the day following our visit: Someone sought a
2-bedroomed, long lease flat in the area at 'about £7,000', a furnished
first floor flat was offered at 75 guineas per week, and another at £600 p.a.
for 5 years. Clearly people are prepared to live in that area and we just
don't believe that the asking price is a try-on either. But of course we've
been there. We've prowled around the streets and up and down the mews: we've
looked at the stately town houses and even at a directory to see some of the
names of those who live behind the discreet portals. Just take our word for
it that the agents will get their price. There is no industry—light or otherwise—no
agriculture, no shipping, none of the things on which a branch manager can
usually hang one of his several hats.There is the Cromwell Road Air Terminal,
and shops, agencies and clubs. But above all there are people; the kind of
people who don't like queues, who expect the best, who like personal service
and those who take the trouble to see they get it. That to our way of
thinking is the best answer to anyone who asks 'Why Gloucester Road?' At No 35 it is all laid on and
in the two weeks between its opening and the day of our visit there were
clear indications that the new branch is being appreciated. It is very well
sited, just away from the hurly-burly of the crossing with Cromwell Road
where our competitors are situated, yet handy for shops and a busy
supermarket nearby. And what will potential customers find in our new branch?
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Image
© Martins Bank Archive Collections - David Bassioli 1967
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Image
© Martins Bank Archive Collections
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One advantage is that from the outside they can see much of what
will please them inside; white pvc-coated
fabric walls, a mustard yellow floor of ceramic tiles, a rosewood counter fronted
with black glass ceramic, and a ceiling of sycamore strips running diagonally
to conceal the absence of right angles. The whole office is spacious and
beautifully appointed, and so are the domestic quarters. Mr D. A. Bradley is
playing it active but playing it cool, and that is the only way. As his
second-in-command we found Mr W. E. A. Sewell, the only bearded man to enter
the Bank's service in recent years. He joined us from the Heysham-Belfast
seaborne branch of British Railways in 1960 and completed ths Banking Diploma
this year. No mean achievement. Two personable and happy young people
complete the staff—Mr R. M. Smedley, a
'Jag' enthusiast, and Miss Moir Machin who was at Victoria Street, Liverpool,
before transferring to London a year ago. She makes wonderful
coffee—something we did not know when she joined us in 1962, so London
District and Mr Bradley are ahead of us there. Now
if we lived in S.W.7 and heard of this new bank in Gloucester Road and called
there under some pretext and were met with excellent service and given a cup
of coffee . . . Who asked “Why Gloucester Road?”
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