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The association of
Martins Bank with London’s Soho Square begins in 1939 when a Branch is opened
at number 11. By 1964 business is strong enough for the Bank to think about
moving to bigger and better premises, and in a kind of “square dance” it is
relocated to this very modern building at 25 Soho Square, which is shared
with the Ministry of Transport!
Barclays stays at No 25 until 1985 when they move next door to No 27,
and today No 25 is the registered address of the Football Association.
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In Service:
1964 until 1985
Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030-2683
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For our Soho Square
features, we look at the retirement of Mr J Russell Brown, who has Manager
of the Branch for twenty-five of his forty-four years with the Bank. We also take a look at one of the more
unusual pieces of artwork to be commissioned by the Bank, and we also have
the memories of two of our colleagues who have worked at Soho Square.
  Russell
brown’s retirement at the end of June
as Manager of Soho Square Branch was something of a problem for his colleagues,
as with characteristic independence he just wanted to slip away with
praises unsung. This they could not allow so in the very informal
atmosphere of the Albany Club, with many past and present members of the
Soho Square staff taking wine with Mr Brown and his wife, it fell to his
old friend Mr G. A. Jeffery, past manager at Maidstone, to slip a cheque
into Mr Brown’s hand and to say a few appropriate words. Russell Brown’s reply was simple and sincere: an
expression of his thoughts on completing 44 years in banking. His
colleagues’ cheque, he disclosed, would be spent on garden furniture for
his new bungalow at Great Missenden. A
native of Newcastle upon Tyne, Mr Brown entered the Bank there in 1921 but
moved to London in 1927 where he served at several Branches before being
appointed Manager at Baker Street in 1936. He volunteered for service in
the Royal Marines during the war and returned to Baker Street at the end of
hostilities. In 1950 he became Manager at Soho Square. On Mr Brown’s last day at the Bank he was visited by
his District General Manager and he had earlier lunched with the General
Management at Head Office.
Copied from an original
bronze…
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 This is, we would guess, not exactly something
that would immediately remind you of Soho – At Martins’ Branch at No 25
Soho Square, this fibreglass replica plaque has been copied from an
original bronze dating from the T’ang Dynasty. That’s AD618 to 906, by the way. It might not be to everyone’s taste. but
it does look the part on the wall at the end of the counter, and doubtless
it has provoked conversation amongst customers waiting to be served. The
image you see here is part of a four page feature – “Art design and
imagination” in which Martins Bank Magazine features weird and wonderful
designs and artworks (old AND new) that take pride of place in Martins
Bank’s Branches all over the country.
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Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030-2683
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Soho Days…
What
was it like working at Soho Square Branch in the 1960s? Friends of the Archive Malcolm Willis and
Bernard Lovewell sent us their memories…
The Branch was originally at number 10 or 12* Soho Square in a conventional looking bank
premises. By the time I was transferred there in 1966 it had moved to the
ground floor of a post-war building at number 22-25. Behind the banking
hall and offices were two large rooms used as training centres for London and the
South of England, one was for training machinists, the other cashiers. They
were run by two ladies, Pat Lucock and Thelma Wurzell, who reported in to
Staff Department in London. The rest of the building was occupied by
the Ministry of Transport who paid in literally hundreds of cheques and postal orders
each day for all the country's car tax applications!
Malcolm Willis – January 2011
(*Actually no 11)
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Staff Training Room
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Manager’s Office
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Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030-2683
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“I
worked for Martins from 1961 and retired from Barclays in 1995. I met
my wife at Martins, Soho Square Branch, and our first child was born at
11.50pm on 12th December 1969 just 10 minutes before the demise of Martins.
My wife gave an extra push to ensure the baby was born in the Martins era!”
Bernard Lovewell – 2009
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 We are grateful to
Dave Baldwin, who once again has set forth for us in London with his trusty
camera, this time to bring us a contemporary image of 25 Soho Square
Branch. Comparison is not as easy as usual, due to a total transformation
of the building’s frontage.
Branch Images © Barclays Ref 0030-2683
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Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections –
Dave Baldwin
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