11-96-70 Small Heath

*The rise and fall of Martins* *Bank in Birmingham…* Martins Bank’s association with the City of Birmingham begins in 1935 with the establishment of Birmingham City Office at 98 Colmore Row. Birmingham Markets, (later moved to Digbeth), and Tyseley follow in 1936, although the latter is closed at the outbreak of World War II and does not re-open. In 1954 the Bank opens Five Ways Branch (which is replaced by Edgbaston in 1964), and Hockley Hill Branch opens in 1956. Small Heath follows in 1961, Holloway Circus in 1962 and King’s Heath in 1967, consolidating the position of Martins Bank in the City.	In Service: Thursday 28 September 1961 until 11 December 1970 Image © Barclays Ref: 0030-0244

The merger with Barclays spells the end for a significant number of Martins outlets in the Midlands and the South, and many of its Birmingham branches will be closed by the 1970s. Small Heath is originally scheduled to remain open after the merger, but is closed by the end of 1970, because of the sheer duplication of suitable Barclays Branches in the Birmingham area. Martins Bank’s Midland District is large, and a number of Branches are actually newer, better modernised or better positioned, than their Barclays counterparts. With the exception of Tyseley, all Birmingham City Branches of the Bank stand alone from the control of a parent branch, and each has a Manager in charge, and able to make decisions guided by the District Office at 98 Colmore Row. In the Twenty-First Century some of Martins Bank’s Midland District Branches are still around but sadly not one of the ten original Birmingham Branches is open for banking, apart from 98 Colmore Row, which is an office of the West Bromwich Building Society. An advertisement like this one on the right is printed in the Birmingham Daily Post, on the morning of Tuesday 26 September 1961, two days before the opening of the new Branch at Small Heath. Martins Bank Magazine does not visit Small Heath, but we do have a small number of staff images for our gallery below…		Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections Advertisement remastered 2018

In June 2015, friend of the Archive Keith Mason, kindly took the contemporary photograph for us (below, right). At that time the building was being used once more as a bank: The Sonali Bank (UK) Ltd. When we checked again in August 2022, the Bank was still trading there, which has to be encouraging, at a time when most banks are shutting up shop along our high streets!