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 Martins Bank have
today transferred to their new office at Corn Street, Bristol, the business
which since the beginning of last year they have carried on in temporary
premises in Baldwin Street. Interest
has been aroused in this event; firstly, by the extensive alterations which
have been proceeding for eight months past, transforming the old-fashioned
building at the corner of Corn Street and Small Street into an edifice in
keeping with modern ideas; and secondly, because the establishment of a
“new” bank in Bristol is an event sufficiently rare to attract the
attention of all business men.
The
history of this great institution goes back to the 16th Century. It is true that the Bank of Liverpool,
out of which the modern Martins Bank has grown, was founded more than 100
years ago, but the predecessors of the original Martin’s Bank which was
absorbed by the Bank of Liverpool in 1918, opened their doors in Lombard
Street on the site of the Bank’s present London Office about 1563 in the
days of Queen Elizabeth. From 1918
to 1928 the Bank was known as the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd., but
when the business of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank Ltd. was absorbed in
the latter year, the name of the combined bank was changed to the less
cumbersome one of Martins Bank Ltd., and thus was preserved a name known in
the City of London for nearly four centuries. In its long history the Bank
has absorbed many well-established banking companies in various parts of
the country, and thus has obtained its very extensive representation
through the whole of the North of England, and in a less degree in the
Midlands and the South.
ENTIRELY
REMODELLED
 Martins Bank may be congratulated on
bringing to Bristol the services of one of the foremost of our banking
institutions, and on doing this in a way which has added to the attractions
of Bristol’s chief commercial street. The banking office is situated in the
Corn Street portion of the ground floor which with the basement has been
entirely remodelled. A commodious strongroom has been constructed on the
most up-to-date lines to provide all possible security, and a night safe
for the deposit of cash, etc., after banking hours has been installed for
the convenience of customers.
The
heating throughout the building has been modernised, the boiler being fed
by a mechanical stoker. The lighting
has been entirely renewed, sanitation remodelled, extended and refitted,
and an up-to-date passenger lift installed.
The upper floors have been thoroughly modernised and now form
attractive suites of offices for the use of the Bank’s tenants. The whole
of the work has been carried out under the supervision of the architects,
Mr Ernest C Aldridge of Liverpool, and Mr W H Watkins of Bristol. It is
interesting to note that Martins Bank has over 560 offices. It is a member of the London clearing
house, has separate Foreign Branches where all descriptions of foreign
business are transacted, and Trustee Departments which undertake all kinds
of trustee business. The Chairman of
the Bank is Sir Richard D holt, Bart., LL.D., the Deputy Chairmen are the
Right Hon. Lord Colwyn, P.C., D.L., LL.D., Mr G E B Bromley-Martin and Mr F
A Bates M.C., A.F.C., D.L., and the General Manager is Mr J M Furniss. The Bristol Branch is under the
management of Mr J H Morrison.
INTERIOR
ALTERATIONS
The
complete scheme of interior transformation was in the experiences hands of
Messrs C A Hayes and Sons Ltd., builders and contractors, St. Thomas
Street, Bristol, and it speaks much for their craftsmanship that this fine
new building has been evolved out of the old. Walls have had to be knocked
down, new doors cut, steps and stairways constructed, new basement vaults made
– in fact the ground floor and basements had to be completely turned
“inside-out”. Messrs Hayes’s workmen
have done this excellently. How many of the recently-opened licensed
premises in Bristol testify still further to the merit of this well-known
Bristol firm of builders and contractors?
Shop-front building and rebuilding is another of their specialities,
while as an instance of their “capacity” it may be remarked that they are
at present engaged on building extensive sewerage disposal works at Conham.
MODERN
FURNISHINGS
Excellent
furnishings in the way of panelling, counters, etc., greatly enhance the artistic
merit of the principal offices, and the new bronze outer doors are finely
executed. This all-important work has been carried out by Messrs A Edmonds
and Co Ltd., the well-known Birmingham firm, whose offices are at
Constitution Hill. This firm are noted for their shop fittings and have
equipped dozens of museums throughout the country with show cases and
panellings. Their factory, covering over three acres of ground, is equipped
with the most modern machinery and their craftsmen are renowned for the
excellence of their workmanship built up by years of experience. Several of the firm’s showcases are in
Bristol museum.
STONE
RESTORATION
One
of the most remarkable features of the building is the transformation of
the exterior stonework which was carried out by Messrs William Tomkinson
and Sons, Great Newton Street, Liverpool. This firm have carried out all
the stone cleaning and restoration of the stone work as well as the
cleaning up of the lead work on the cornices and the outside painting work.
The result is pleasing in every way and makes the building “stand out” in
fine relief as an attractive architectural addition to its distinguished
surroundings.
Newspaper
Image and copy © Northcliffe Media Limited Image created courtesy of
THE
BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD and reproduced with kind permission of
The British Newspaper Archive
 Knowing
how keenly
interested many of our Staff,
particularly the males, are in all that goes on under the comprehensive
title of “Head Office” we have in
past issues been trying to give a series of pen pictures of those
departments and their personalities which come into contact with every
branch sooner or later. Within the limits of our space we have also given
some indication of departmental workings. We hope to complete this series
as time goes on. Not so very long ago the
Chairman said: “Why don't you feature some
of the branches, particularly the remote ones, for a change ?
 Put
in pictures of the whole
Staff and give them a bit of notice”. At the rate of
six branches per issue it would take us about 25 years to feature them all,
but we can at any rate start with the outposts,
and so, at the beginning of July, while the Staffs were still more or less together for the Balance, we
paid a visit to the South-Western group of branches
in search of “local colour”. Bristol was our first port of call and Mr. Harry Douglas,
the Manager, cheerfully permitted us to
disorganise his whole day while we talked to his staff, recognised in A. M.
Elliott a fellow Liobian, and indulged in
a private reunion with John Sparke. a former Heywoods colleague, at that time on relief at Bristol.
To one who has spent all his banking life within a tram ride
of Head Office it comes as something
of a shock to realise that none of the girls in these branches has even
been to Liverpool, never mind to Head
Office. Of the male staff two started their banking careers in the
Manchester District, one in the Craven
District, one in the North-Eastern District, two in the Liverpool District and only one in Bristol itself. Without this link, this contact, it is indeed hard for
members of the staff really to have the feeling
of belonging to a larger family.
Mr. Douglas himself is a North-Easterner and after serving at various branches in the North-Eastern
District he became Manager successively of
Wingrove, Gosforth and Wolverhampton, before going to Bristol in 1940. A. M. Elliott
is his second. He entered the Bank in 1927 at Aigburth and went to
Inspection Department the following year.
He has been at Bristol
since 1938, signing since 1944. E.
Armistead started at Colne in 1926 and, apart from war service, has been at
Bristol since 1939. He is covering himself with glory this
year (assisted by J. O. Sparke) in taking one of the mobile branches round the country. P. H. Mellor is an old Lancashire and
Yorkshire man who, after service in the Manchester District, first went to
Bristol in 1940, and returned there after war service in 1946 after a short
spell at Taunton. E.J. Warburton is the other Manchester District man. He
first went south in 1939 and, apart from war service has been at Clifton
and Plymouth before settling at Bristol for a third spell.
F.J. Clee started his
career in the Liverpool District and went to Bristol in 1938, returning
there after the war. Of the
girls only one, Miss D. E. Wilson, has been in the Bank longer than
eighteen months. She entered the service in 1944. To a Liverpudlian, accustomed to the sight of her
gaping war wounds, it was a surprise to realise the extent and severity of
Bristol's air-raid damage. Quite near our branch is an area reminiscent, on
a smaller scale, of the area near St. Paul's, and the shopping streets have
many gaps. Our branch was not hit, though the building to which we intended
to move was completely destroyed. The
office is quite a pleasant one and we were constrained to wonder whether
anyone ever had his mind taken off his work by the fairly close proximity
of the tavern which was the original of that in Robert Louis Stevenson's
“Treasure Island”. That and the nearby famous Theatre Royal are romantic
companions for a prosaic banking business.
In the late afternoon we
paid a visit to Clifton branch to see Mr. Price and Mr. Milner. Our branch
is attractively situated and Mr. Price gave us a cheery welcome, while D.
B. Milner “held the fort”. Owing to housing difficulties Mr. Price lives
over the branch but he has a cosy little place and seems very happy. D. B.
Milner is a local boy who joined the staff in 1942. In the evening Mr. and Mrs. Douglas took us for a run
to see the sights of Bristol and then through the Cheddar Gorge and we
talked about banking, personalities and overdrafts until the day was nearly
spent. We used to wonder in our own early managerial days in Liverpool
exactly how one “went out to look for business”. Mr. Douglas certainly opened our eyes and
as we toured the countryside miles away from the city and realised the
extent of his “field” we paid silent tribute to the pioneers, personified
by him, who have blazed the Midland and South-Western trails.
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