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1923 really is a bumper year
for the opening of new Branches and sub-Branches by the Bank of Liverpool and
Martins. Five years after the two Banks were amalgamated, expansion is key to
success, and with a batch of Branches in London and Kent, the combined
business is keen to spread across the country to develop a truly National
Bank.
One of twenty new offices
opened in 1923, the sub-Branch at Bickley does not last very long under the
newly created Martins Bank, which arrives on the scene on 3 January
1928. By September, Bickley is closed. Opened originally as a sub branch to
Bromley, Bickley is run this way until 1926 when it
becomes a sub-Branch to Chislehurst.
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In Service:
7 December 1923 until September 1928
Extract
from Bank of Liverpool and Martins Annual Report and Accounts 1923
Bickley is a sub-Branch to Bromley from 1923 to 1926…
…and a sub-Branch to Chislehurst from 1926 to 1928.
Images
© Barclays 1923 and 1926
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 However, within months of the amalgamation of the
Bank with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank, which creates Martins Bank
Limited in 1928, Bickley is closed after less than five years in service. We
must assume that for this and many of
the smaller Branches to
be closed down so soon, the new Martins Bank has had a “clear-out” of those offices that might be performing less
than satisfactorily, are simply too expensive to maintain,
or that need to be moved to follow the direction of business as towns and
villages grow. This last point is important, as towns and villages are growing
and changing, adding new shops, banks and services at a time when cash is
king and there is a physical need for these buildings. With full branches both at Bromley AND Chislehurst, the disruption in service to customers
by the closure of Bickley is probably minimal. Bickley is
amongst a large number of Martins early sub-Branches for which there are no
external or internal photographs. If you can help with this or any of
Martins’ 980+ Branch buildings, please do get in touch with us at the usual
address – gutinfo@btinternet.com
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