By Kathy Kyle, Dorking BID Manager
Glimmers of hope for Dorking.
Nationwide Building Society is closing its doors “for the foreseeable.” What does that mean for Dorking? According to Cash Access UK, their “member banks and LINK will work together to consider any impact on cash provision in communities as a result of Nationwide’s decision.”
Upon learning of Nationwide’s decision to withdraw from the scheme funding banking hubs, we immediately approached Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) to request another community application (previously rejected by LINK in August 2023) for a Dorking Banking Hub. The first application made by MVDC was rejected because Nationwide Building Society was still open in Dorking (and Leatherhead).
We have been informed that this new request has been made by MVDC and we are hopeful that LINK will conduct a retrospective assessment of the communities impacted by the branch closures.
According to Cash Access UK, they “look forward to having Banking Hub services open in 30 communities by Christmas, alongside the 15 Post Offices that are benefiting from investment in additional banking services. With at least 60 more Hubs due to open in 2024, Cash Access UK will go on to support the customers of our nine member banks in hundreds of communities across the UK.”
It will not be known if LINK will undertake this review for a few weeks; we will update this post with news once we receive it. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on this topic.
You can share with Cash Access your feedback or leave us a comment and we will share it for you.
Read our original Op-Ed on this topic here, which led to BID Chairman Andrew Fuller speaking with James Cannon on BBC Surrey.
Notes to Editors
Interviews and images are available on request. For more information, please contact Kathy Kyle at info@dorkingtownpartnership.co.uk.
About the Dorking Town Centre Partnership
The Business Improvement District (BID) for Dorking is committed to raising the profile of Dorking and bringing economic prosperity to the town. Follow us on X (Twitter), Meta (Facebook), LinkedIn and Instagram at @HelloDorking. Tag us to be featured at #HelloDorking.
Learn more about the Dorking BID at https://linktr.ee/hellodorking