Table of Contents
When the Hertfordshire town of Harpenden gets its promised banking center (a temporary one in the town hall could open before the end of the year), it will be largely thanks to the tireless efforts of veteran community banking advocate Derek French.
A City resident and former NatWest executive, he called for community-style branches (multi-banks within a retail space) long before they appeared on the scene.
He was campaigning for them in the late 1990s, when banks began eliminating their branches. In 2000, I vividly remember Derek alerting me to Barclays’ decision to close 172 branches in a single day, a story we published in the Financial Mail on Sunday.
Derek, now 84, saw the possibility of individual branches in cities long before anyone else and advocated for banks to share services under one roof rather than leaving communities bankless.
In the end, banks and consumer groups heeded what French was saying; An organization called Cash Access UK was set up to oversee the unique banking revolution and banking centers were launched on our high streets. They are not as comprehensive as Derek would have liked (banking services are quite basic and access to personal advice is limited), but they are better than any bank.
We should have 100 banking centers up and running before the end of the year, and another 70 in the pipeline. But more will be needed as a new wave of branch closures hits the country in the new year, another blow for high streets already reeling from the National Insurance increases announced in the Budget. The Labor Party has committed to having 350 centers installed by 2029.
Glory days: The bank in Harpenden (above) which is now a Gail’s (above)
Derek says the decline in bank branches is so fierce that centers are now coming to cities that most residents would assume are prosperous or large enough to support at least one bank. He calls it “Gail’s moment.”
On Friday, Derek told me: ‘To many, the presence of a Gail’s Bakery and Cafe indicates the prosperity of a town. It has a positive impact on local house prices in the same way that the presence of a Waitrose store does. Until now, towns with a Gail’s on site have not needed a center because at least one bank remains on the main street.’
But that is changing. Derek says Harpenden will become the first town with Gail’s to have a banking centre. Gail’s other cities, he says, will do the same as they lose their last bank and gain a downtown. Gail’s occupies the premises of the former NatWest branch. “There’s always a buzz there when I visit,” Derek says. “The vault door is still in place and it is very nice to sit and have a coffee in the old vault.”
Five other banks once graced the streets of Harpenden. Its facilities now house a wine bar, an optician, a pharmacy and another cafeteria. The former Barclays branch will be converted into a mix of flats and commercial premises.
Derek says: ‘After having at least one bank in the town since 1887, Harpenden has lost significant influence on the business and personal lives of its community of 32,000. It is not yet known whether the city is better off with the loss of all its banks and the gain of a downtown and even more cafes.
Gail’s is a card-only business. It really says it all.
Why we should come together to support winter fuel payments
I take my hat off to the Unite union for calling for a judicial review of Rachel Reeves’ inexplicable decision in July to take the
the payment of winter fuel to ten million pensioners, many of them in financial difficulties.
He wants the crude decision to be overturned, and rightly so.
The annual payment, £200 for pensioners under 80 and £300 for those over 80, would have been paid this month or next, and would be useful for many of them, given the recent sharp fall in the temperature.
However, now only those who receive pension credit and some other benefits will receive the payment.
Like some charities (Age UK), the National Pensioners’ Convention, Baroness Ros Altmann and both the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, Unite campaigned against this cruel decision from the start.
I was even among its vociferous members outside the Houses of Parliament in early October to protest against the pay cut.
So far, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has held firm. Petitions against cutting winter fuel payments have been ignored, as have passionate letters delivered to 11 Downing Street urging a rethink (including one written in my beautiful handwriting).
Sharon Graham, Unite’s chief firebrand, says “digging into pensioners’ pockets is wrong at every level”. You are absolutely right and I hope the review forces Mrs Reeves to rethink this.
I bet Labor will raise taxes once again
Looking ahead: Chancellor Rachel Reeves
Are more tax increases coming? Or was the raising of £40bn in October budget taxes the end of Labour’s fiscal impact on businesses, charities and our personal wealth?
According to the Chancellor, the answers are respectively “no” and “yes”. But the Prime Minister is not so sure. Last Wednesday, in the House of Commons, he refused to “write the budgets for the next five years” when questioned by an irritated Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition.
For what it’s worth, I’d bet my last pound that Labor will raise taxes again between now and 2029.
Because? His recipe for reviving this country’s fortunes – taxing private companies to the max while pouring billions of pounds into inefficient public services and into the pockets of public sector workers – is based on kindergarten economics.
When the wheels fall off, as they surely will, it will be us, the poor taxpayers, who will foot the bill.
That permanent home in the Algarve seems more attractive every day.
A Christmas Cash Boost
With our attention turning to Christmas and gifts for our loved ones, don’t rule out giving money away, especially if you think inheritance tax (IHT) may become an issue in the future.
As a result of Rachel Reeves’ horrible budget at the end of October (‘rebuild?’ Pull the other one), gifting now makes more sense than ever.
This is because a more draconian IHT regime, especially with regard to the inclusion of unused pension funds within the IHT net from 2027, is falling at a considerable rate.
There are several gift exemptions you can use (take a look at gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts), but the one I like is the small gift exemption.
This allows you to give gifts to as many children, grandchildren and friends as you want and can afford. The only stipulation is that the total donations you make to each individual in the current tax year must not exceed £250.
Just a little thought before the Christmas bells start ringing.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.