Sue Calvert, the owner of Penzance furnishings retailer Alfred Smith and Son, a member of Associated Independent Stores (AIS), is challenging Lloyds' decision to close her local bank branch on 21st January, reflecting the wider threat that bank closures pose to the viability of high streets across the UK.
Sue's business, which has banked with Lloyds for over a century, strongly opposes the bank's decision to close the branch, particularly as Lloyds had signed a two-year lease just three days before the announcement, she says.
“Relationships are built over time to have an understanding of their customers,” says Sue. “Lloyds’ decision is abandoning independent retail and those many years of trust between two businesses. As retailers, we all know this is a critical time to make our collective voice heard. The closure of banks directly impacts the viability of our high streets.”
The campaign, though focused on Penzance, is now being positioned as a stand against a potentially dramatic reduction in banking access across Cornwall and a warning for the future of high streets nationwide.
Sue is working closely with her local MP, Andrew George, and the CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), Andrew Goodacre, and is now urging retailers and industry leaders to take immediate action, to make this fight "as uncomfortable as possible for Lloyds Bank to force a reconsideration.
"If your constituency is affected by a Lloyds closure, please contact the Penzance campaign to co-ordinate efforts (38 constituencies are involved). Get your local MP to contact Penzance MP Andrew George, who is co-ordinating a growing cross-party collection of MPs in this lobbying effort – or contact Andrew Goodacre at BIRA so that he can integrate this into a larger, national lobbying campaign on behalf of independent retailers," Sue concludes.
