- 04/10/2012
- Posted by: Joyce Watson MS
- Category: Feature
Joyce Watson AM has written to the Regional Director of HSBC urging the bank to reconsider its decision to close branches in Llandovery and St Davids.
Here is the letter:
Rachel Thomas, Regional Director,
Retail Banking and Wealth Management
HSBC Bank
South West & Wales Regional Office
PO Box 375
97 Bute Street
Cardiff, CF10 5XH
2 October 2012
Dear Ms Thomas,
I am very disappointed by the news that the HSBC branches in Llandovery and St Davids are to close. I urge you to reconsider.
I notice that you are a area Regional Director for the South West & Wales Region of HSBC. I must make the point that I am a Regional Member of the National Assembly for Wales.
Wales is a nation, not a region. To close the HSBC branches in Llandovery and St Davids is to ignore the historical significance of Llandovery and St Davids and to ignore the current importance of these two centres in the economic and cultural life of south west Wales.
There is much that can be said about Llandovery and St Davids. Very briefly, I think you should note that St Davids is a Cathedral city and that Llandovery is a market town with a rich historical past. It is also the site of a major public school in Wales.
It may well be that, according to your own company designation, Llandovery and St Davids are defined in relation to a numerical population tariff. The importance of these two places cannot be reduced to numbers alone. Both Llandovery and St Davids are central to the economic and commercial life of these parts of south west Wales.
I end as I began. I urge you to reconsider these decisions.
Yours sincerely,
Joyce Watson AM/AC
Mrs Watson added:
“HSBC has already pulled out of places like St. Clears, Nefyn and Criccieth, and now they are shutting the doors in Llandovery and St Davids. This incessant programme of branch closures in mid and west Wales is misguided and unfair on rural communities.
“It particularly hits shops and small businesses, the elderly, and those without access to the internet or their own transport.
“After the banking crisis and the bailouts, you would think the big banks would have a greater sense of obligation to their customers, if only to mend their tattered reputations. If HSBC does care about its customers in rural Wales, it must stop this programme of branch closures.”
