Bank Committee: March 15th 1926
The following report of the General Purposes Sub-Committee was presented:
Northfield Branch.
Your Sub-Committee have had before them a report of the General Manager containing proposals in regard to the Northfield Branch, which will be formally opened on May 1st 1926. Under the scheme it is proposed to make Northfield the centre, and to work Longbridge, Rubery and a new Branch at Rednal as sub-Branches, using the same staff for all four districts. The depositors at the sub-branches would have the privilege of making deposits or withdrawals at Northfield when that branch is open in addition to using their own branch office. This arrangement should prove attractive, and as the books of all four branches would be kept at Northfield there would be no administrative difficulty.
In fixing hours of business it has been necessary to take certain factors into consideration, namely: (1) The necessity for a daily attendance at Northfield; (2) That the Northfield Branch should be open at the same time each day; (3) That there should be sufficient time available for banking at or obtaining money from the Joint Stock Bank; (4) That regard should be given to the extra travelling necessitated by the staff, and to opportunity for obtaining meals.
The scheme provides for the
adoption of the following hours of business at the branches named, which times appear to give the best working arrangements:
|
Mondays |
At
Northfield |
10 to 11:30 |
1½ |
|
|
At Rednal |
12:30 to 2:00 |
1½ |
|
|
At Northfield |
6:00 to 8:00 |
2 |
|
Tuesdays |
At Northfield |
10 to 11:30 |
1½ |
|
|
At Rubery |
12:30
to 2 |
1½ |
|
Wednesdays |
At Northfield |
10 to 2:30 |
4½ |
|
Thursdays |
At Northfield |
10 to 12:00 |
2 |
|
Fridays |
At Northfield |
10 to 2:30 |
4½ |
|
Saturdays |
At Northfield |
10
to 11:30 |
1½ |
|
|
At Longbridge |
12:30 to 2 |
1½ |
|
|
At Northfield |
6 to 8 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
24 |
In view of the opening of the new Northfield
premises on May 1st, 1926, it will be necessary to notify depositors at Northfield, Longbridge and Rubery branches of the changes
in the hours of business.
They now recommend that the scheme above outlined be adopted.
2304 RESOLVED:- That the scheme outlined in the foregoing report in regard to the Northfield Branch and Sub-branches thereof, at Longbridge, Rubery and Rednal, be approved; that the depositors concerned be notified of the alterations in the hours of business which will take place as from the 1st May next, and that the General Manager be empowered to take all necessary steps to carry the scheme into effect.
General
Purposes Sub-Committee: October 10th 1927
The General Manager reported that he had made an application to the Estates Department for the land at Longbridge (corner of Hawkesley Mill Lane and Bristol Road) recently before the Council as a proposed sale and referred back to the Estates Department, to be transferred to the Bank.
1166 RESOLVED:- That the action of the General Manager be approved.
General Purposes Sub-Committee: December 13th 1927
With regard to the site at Hawkesley Mill Lane, the Sub-Committee were informed that the transfer of the site in question had been approved by the City Council. The Minute was accordingly discharged.
General
Manager's Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 1927:
Buildings and Sites Purchased.
During the year buildings or sites have been acquired at Bristol Street, Longbridge, Hobmoor Road, and Bearwood; while negotiations are taking place for sites at Yardley and Tyseley.
General Purposes Sub-Committee: June 11th 1928
On Minute No 1218 (Branch facilities, Northfield area) the General Manager presented the following report:
Northfield and Sub-Branches.
The Chairman, accompanied by Councillors Poole and
Gelling, has visited Northfield Branch, and conferred with the local Manager as to the most suitable arrangements which might be made
for working the different Branches.
From the amount of business done at Rednal, it is clear that attendance at that Branch is
not justified; and while the amounts taken at Longbridge are not very high, the transactions are fairly reasonable, and there should
be a continuation of some provision for that area. At Rubery the transactions have been on the low side, but substantial, and in view
of the development taking place in the direction of Rubery, it is felt necessary to retain contact with such area.
The Committee
agreed to purchase from the Estates Department a plot of land at the corner of Hawkesley Mill Lane and Bristol Road South, and to
transfer the Longbridge Branch to that site. It now transpires that there is a restrictive covenant on this land, which admits only
of dwelling houses being erected. This being so, an intimation has been conveyed to the Estates Department that unless such condition
is removed the land would be of no use to the Bank.
Independent of the proposed use of the land at the corner of Hawkesley Mill
Lane, Mr Viney, the local Manager, is convinced that a Branch near the Austin Works at the junction of the roads leading to Rubery
and Rednal, would be a paying proposition, and the Chairman and other Members of the Committee were equally convinced that such an
arrangement would be the best. If this could be arranged, the present Branches at Rubery and Rednal could be merged into a Branch
at the junction of the two roads.
To meet the wishes of the Committee in this matter, the General Manager is approaching the
Secretary of the Water Department, with a view to securing a piece of the land which belongs to the Water Department, and is situated
at the exact spot which the Chairman and others have in mind. The General Manager hopes to be able shortly to come to terms with the
Water Department on the matter.
1276 RESOLVED:- That the foregoing report be approved, and that the General Manager endeavour to arrange for the transfer from the Water Department of the piece of land at the junction of the roads leading to Rednal and Rubery with a view to a branch being established there to take the place of the existing branches at Rednal and Rubery, and that the General Committee be recommended accordingly.
1277 RESOLVED:- That consideration of the acquisition of the plot of land at the corner of Hawkesley Mill Lane and Bristol Road South be deferred, pending definite information as to the restrictive covenants on the land.
Bank Committee: June 18th 1928
3128 The following report of the General Purposes Sub-Committee was presented:
Northfield and Sub-Branches.
Further consideration has been given to the question of the Sub-branches of
the Northfield Branch, and your Sub-Committee recommend that advantage be taken of the opportunity of placing a wooden building on
land belonging to the Water Department at the junction of the roads leading to Rednal and Rubery. The Branches held in cottages at
Rednal and Rubery can be transferred to this building, and should prove more attractive, particularly to employees at the Austin Motor
Works. The present wood building at Little Bromwich can be used for the purpose. If this recommendation is adopted it will be necessary
to slightly re-arrange the hours of Northfield and the sub-branches so as to obtain the best results.
Your Sub-Committee are
informed that the land at the corner of Hawkesley Mill Lane and Bristol Road, Longbridge, which it was agreed should be purchased
from the Estates Department, is subject to a restriction that only dwellinghouses shall be erected thereon. The matter is being further
looked into and a fuller report will be made to your next meeting.
With reference to the paragraph in the foregoing report relating
to the proposal to transfer the wood building from Little Bromwich to land belonging to the Water Department at the junction of Rednal
and Rubery, the General Manager reported that the Water Committee were agreeable to such transfer and to arrangements being made for
opening a Branch of the Bank in such building. The Water Committee had authorised the Secretary to settle terms with the Bank in the
matter.
3129 RESOLVED:- That the proposed transfer of the sub-branches at Rednal and Rubery to the wood building to be placed on the land referred to be approved. and the General Manager authorised to settle terms of tenancy of the land with the Secretary of the Water Department; also that the Chairman and General Manager be authorised to revise the hours of business of the Northfield Branch and sub-branches as they may deem desirable.
3130 The Committee were informed that the land in Hawkesley Mill Lane it was intended should be transferred to the Bank was subject to certain building restrictions. The matter would be re-considered by the General Purposes Sub-Committee and a report made to the Bank Committee in due course.
General Purposes
Sub-Committee: July 9th 1928
1290 On Minute No 1277 (Land, corner of Hawkesley Mill Lane) the Sub-Committee instructed the General Manager to confer with the General Manager of the Estates Department as to the advisability of not proceeding with the acquisition of the site.
Bank Committee: July 16th 1928
On Minute No 3129 (Land at the junction of the roads to Rednal and Rubery) the General Manager reported that terms had now been agreed with the Water Department, who were agreeable to let the land at a nominal rental of £1 per annum, the Bank to arrange for the clearing of the site and to comply with certain other conditions required by the Water Department.
3156 RESOLVED:- That the arrangements made with the Water Department for the letting of the site at the junction of the roads to Rednal and Rubery as above outline be confirmed.
General Purposes Sub-Committee:
October 8th 1928
On Minute No 1276 (Branch facilities at Northfield), the Sub-Committee were informed that arrangements had been made for land fronting Bristol Road South and opposite to the Austin Motor Company's works at Longbridge, to be transferred from the Water Department to the Bank.
1305 RESOLVED:- That, having regard to the restrictive covenants contained in the Deeds relating to the land and to the improbability of any appreciable development in house building in this vicinity, the General Committee be recommended to abandon the proposed purchase of this site and to cause the Estates Committee to be informed accordingly.
Finance
Sub-Committee: October 8th 1928
The General Manager presented the following report as to the present position in regard to the Northfield Branch and sub-branches:
Northfield Branch and Sub-Branches.
Mr Kesterton, acting on my instructions, has spent
some time in the Northfield area in order to furnish me with a report as to how business might be improved.
An extraction from
our books shows that at Northfield Branch there are 1,684 accounts with balances amounting to £66,083; at Longbridge Branch 229 accounts
with balances amounting to £3,908, and at Rednal and Rubery Branches 170 accounts with balances amounting to £6,962.
The area
covered by these Branches is largely agricultural, and the development, although not so pronounced as in the case of branches nearer
the City, cannot be looked upon as unsatisfactory.
Mr Kesterton estimates that 1,000 to 2,000 workpeople can often be found in
the roads adjacent to the Austin Motor Co's Works during the dinner hour, and it is suggested that suitable literature might be distributed
on selected days to such workpeople. Another suggestion is that the Rubery and Hollymoor Mental Hospitals should be visited with a
view to the Bank being brought prominently before the staffs of these institutions. The question of holding public meetings in the
Northfield area to further the interests of the Bank has also been discussed, but I do not consider that such meetings would attract
many people and little good would result therefrom.
Another suggestion put forward is that the printed slip advertising the Bank
should be put in the weekly pay envelopes of the employees of the Austin Motor Co., or alternatively, that the Bank should supply
wage envelopes with suitable advertisement matter printed on the back. This suggestion has been put forward previously and certain
large works were approached, but objections were raised to both suggestions and I do not think any useful purpose would be served
by reviving the idea.
The suggestion of distributing suitable literature on selected days might be adopted in this particular
area, but beyond this I do not recommend the Committee to go. The Bank is, or ought to be, sufficiently well-known, and so long as
we provide reasonably convenient Branch facilities, we shall meet with success. So far, I think we are meeting the position in the
Northfield area, but as the area develops, we may find it necessary to review the position.
246 RESOLVED:- That the foregoing report of the General Manager be approved, and that arrangements be made for distributing suitable literature in regard to the Bank on selected days in the Northfield area.