I work at the same Nationwide where I started 33 years ago and know that local banks MUST stay open.

Not everyone who walks into the branch is happy to see me at first, even if I’ve known them for years.

I started working at Nationwide in Macclesfield straight out of school, aged 18. I still remember arriving on the first day in my new navy suit and tie; I was very, very scared. I’m still there 33 years later, although it doesn’t seem like half of that.

I’ve been at the branch so long that I know at least 1,000 customers by name; those whose names I don’t know are a minority.

I can measure my own life by its life stages. I helped some open their first account when they were children and then, in what seems like the blink of an eye, I help their children open their first accounts.

For about 30 years, a couple would come to the branch like clockwork, week after week, to check their transactions.

They consulted those they did not recognize and compared them with their statements until everyone was accounted for. They did it until they were too old to handle it themselves. I then helped her daughter take over through a registered power of attorney. He is now 60 years old and came recently to tell me that his parents had sadly passed away within a week of each other.

But last week, a client I’ve known for years came in to pay a bill and was pretty frustrated with me.

He wanted to pay a bill of around £1,000 from his builder; He thought it should be simple because he had already transferred money to her before. But when I tried to make the payment, the bank details did not match the builder’s details.

“I’m sure he’s okay, Michelle,” she kept saying. “Just pass it on.”

But since I know her well, I asked her what she thought would happen if it turned out to be a scam, and I sent it to her even though I was suspicious. How would she feel then?

She agreed to call the builder to check and discovered that the invoice was fake.

Her builder’s actual invoice was intercepted by a fraudster and the bank details changed – if she had sent the money it would have gone directly to them. She was delighted when she realized what I had done and went out and bought me a bouquet of flowers.

Clients do that from time to time, coming back with cookies or chocolates, when we save them from losing money or help them with something difficult, like registering a power of attorney.

When I started working here in 1991, there were many banks on the main street. But over the years, Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Barclays have closed.

And Lloyds is closing its branch in January, so we are getting a steady flow of customers coming to open an account with us; Yesterday I helped with four.

Some people think that branches are simply not necessary anymore, but from what I see they have never been more important. Most people are happy doing some things online, but they still come to us to reassure us.

When I started there weren’t scams like there are now, but we’re seeing more and more, so people want to come talk to someone they know definitely works for Nationwide, and not someone calling someone. He could be impersonating us.

They trust us above all because many have known us for a long time.

Sometimes I notice changes in clients even before they or their families notice, because I talk to them so often.

There is an older man who recently started asking the same question two or three times; I could see that his memory was starting to fail. I put a note in his file to tell him that he might need a little more help and got him additional support.

And sometimes people just prefer to do things in person.

Last month, 40 percent of Nationwide’s new checking accounts were opened in branches. That proportion is increasing.

However, many things have changed since I started.

I remember there were rows and rows of files everywhere in the branch: a lot of paperwork. Now everything is digitized. I used to work at the front desk, where I had a big wooden drawer to store all the cash. Now many things don’t work with cash.

And I spent a lot of time dealing with checks; Now when we process one, we don’t even have to send it, we just scan it.

The uniform also changes, depending on the times. For a while it was white and blotchy… and looked terrible. Then there was one with a detachable ruff that went over his blouse; It looked elegant but was not pleasant to wear.

I like the last one because it’s still sleek and navy blue, but you don’t have to wear a jacket.

Of course, attitudes toward money have changed a lot. There is concern that customers

less careful, but I don’t think that’s the case.

Maybe it was before the pandemic, when credit was cheap. People took out loans to buy new cars, kitchens and vacations.

But during Covid they took a step back and thought about what really mattered, and since then I see a lot more people coming to open savings accounts and not as many personal loans.

Every day we have kids come in to open checking accounts (I must have helped thousands over the years), but I still love seeing their excitement about saving for a new video game, a bike, or a vacation.

I have two children, ages 22 and 25, and it used to seem strange to them that I had always worked at the same job. When they were making decisions about what they wanted to do in life, they were under the impression that what they chose at 18 was where they would have to stay forever.

But I think now you understand why I do it.

If you can get up to work in the morning, after so many years of doing the same job, and you really want to be there and see your clients and colleagues, I don’t know why you would want to leave.

As told to Rachel Rickard Strauss.