Nationwide Bids Farewell to Broadway


Building society shutting down Fulham branch later this month

Fulham branch will serve its last customer on 27 October Fulham branch will serve its last customer on 27 October

Nationwide Building Society’s branch on the corner of Fulham Broadway and North End Road is closing its doors on Thursday, 27 October.

The society has had a long presence in Fulham, operating a very busy branch in the centre of North End Road for many years before moving to this corner site.

However, this site has always appeared to be less busy and a spokesperson for the society said, “We are not closing branches in large swathes; however, we are not immune to the changing ways in which our members are choosing to access financial services.

“If a branch is being used less and less, has several branches nearby, or it requires significant investment to bring it up to date, we must consider whether it is the interest of our wider membership to keep it open. We need to determine whether it makes more sense to use that money to improve and retain branches elsewhere in our network, particularly in areas where there is lower provision.

“This is the case with Fulham where we know that 64% of Fulham branch members are using other branches and only 1.3% of members are using this branch exclusively and frequently.”

The closure follows the departure of Santander from North End Road in August last year, and leaves the road with just one small branch of Lloyds, along with the London Plus Credit Union.

The move also comes as a number of top banks, including Barclays, HSBC and Natwest bring in plans to shut dozens of branches - though those around Fulham Broadway have so far escaped the axe.

Nationwide on Fulham Broadway
Nationwide on Fulham Broadway

The Nationwide spokesperson said: “ Branches play an important role for some of our members and the communities in which they live. We’ve committed to maintaining a strong network, extending our Branch Promise, to leave no town or city where we currently have a presence without a Nationwide branch until 2024.

“That’s a vastly different position from many of our competitors who continue to close significant numbers of branches.”

The spokesperson said that there are four other Nationwide branches within three miles, including Hammersmith and Wandsworth, adding, “We’ve invested in both these branches ensuring people in the area have modern branches with the latest technology and services.

“This means we can focus on delivering better services that will provide our members with the best face-to-face experience and help to protect our branch network in the long term.

“ We would encourage any member who needs support to speak to our colleagues in branch or call 0345 2660 268 to talk through their options in more detail.”

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October 17, 2022