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 A
number of talented and dedicated staff provide the overseas services of
Martins Bank, and many are gifted with knowledge of one or more foreign languages.
It comes as a particular loss to the bank when these staff either move on or
retire, as their skills are hard to resource. Although many of the Bank’s
larger branches have their own foreign departments, and the ability to
perform some foreign transactions, Martins has three dedicated overseas
branches designed to serve the Bank as a whole – Chief Overseas Office is in
London, support by Liverpool and Manchester Overseas Branches.
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In Service:1934*
until 12 December 1969
*but see also history at foot of page
Image © Barclays Ref
0030-1830
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Manchester Overseas is located
at one end of the same building as Manchester District Office, the palatial
former Head Office of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank at 47 Spring Gardens.
When Barclays and Martins Merge at the end of 1969, the business of
Manchester Overseas is transferred to Barclays’ own Overseas Branch at 94
Portland Street. For our feature, we go back to 1966 when staff are saying
goodbye to Mr C Holland whose record of service includes a staggering
thirty-four years at Manchester Overseas…
  on april 29 many of his colleagues
and friends throughout the District gathered at Manchester Overseas branch to
mark the retirement of Clarence Holland after 42 years in the Bank. Apart
from war service, he spent 34 years in Overseas branch where he was appointed
Pro Manager in 1952. After paying tribute to
Mr Holland and mentioning particularly his
fluency in many languages, Mr D. P. Wilson,
the Manager, presented him with a watch on
behalf of subscribers. Mr Holland spoke briefly and wittily in thanking his
friends for their gift and he then entertained them to a party. Earlier in the day he had been entertained to lunch by
his District General Manager.
  We are indebted to
Alan Thomond for his contributions to our “then and now” series – he has
supplied a large number of contemporary photographs of Martins Bank’s
Branches in and around Manchester. The shot below, taken in Spring 2016,
shows the former premises of Manchester Overseas now occupied by the World
famous Vivienne Westwood Store, but with the Martins Coat of Arms still
defiantly flying the flag from the stonework on the side of the building!
Nowadays too, things look a lot less sooty and grimy than they did in the
1960s…
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