Dawlish News
Due to close 9 October 2018.
See - https://www.lloydsbank.com/assets/media/pdfs/contact-us/Lloyds-Dawlish-Branch-Part-1.pdf
So much for the pledge never to close the last bank in town. The concept of service to the public is totally alien to banks now. Even service to other businesses has gone down the toilet. All they think about is ways to save money and pay vast bonuses to themselves.
Another nail in the coffin for Dawlish?
Still, with the Cycle Path and the new(?) playpark on the lawn, Dawlish will be packed with visitors coming from hundreds of miles around.
All the more reason for there to be something else in the town centre that will attract visitors to it. And I totally agree that a playpark on the lawn will not be the answer.
Dawlish town centre now needs a unique selling point more than ever. Look to what Flo has suggested on another thread.
I wonder what will replace the bank in that building? Perhaps it could become that drop in moaning centre that DM has suggested and it could be renamed Victor Meldrew house. Well, it would be unique and would generate lots of publicity would it not?
I wonder what businesses will do. Do places like Harrisons go to the bank to cash up or doesn't it work like that anymore?
To me, this is old news. I was told before Xmas what was going to happen, but I promised I would not leak it. But it is nice to know my contact was right.
Flo, Securicor provide a secure money collection service. Coop, Harrisons, Lloyds, The cafe under the station to name but a few.
Did you know that one of these collection services, collect money from parking meters in Exeter, and Exeter collect money from parking meters in Teignbridge and a few other districts.
I forgot to say," I do all my banking on line as do many others" Less customers on foot is the reason for many closures for all busineses.
The billionaires of this world started it and it will continue. If there was no internet, we would not be talking to each other on this site.
So might all this online banking and shopping be aiding and abetting the demise of town centres? More than likely I think. And if that is the way of things now (which it seems it is) then I think it is pretty obvious why town centres aren't as vibrant as they used to be. (online shopping along with out of town supermarkets and shopping areas that provide free parking).
Taking a broader outlook on what might happen-I don,t know, But it doesn't look very good.
I have been told that many cafe's are closing in Exeter, could the same soon be happening in places like Dawlish.
What attracts people to Exeter now? Add the price of a parking ticket to your shopping and it becomes quite an expensive place to shop. Places like Primark are doing well but the likes of M&S, Next, or Debenhams who sell clothes - not so well.
You must all remember the only clothes shop in the Brunswick -gone now and nothing has taken it's place.
@majorp? why has nothing taken the place of the clothes shop in the brunswick? looks like a nice little shop there to me!
What is a disgrace is that the closing of the last bank in town will be a great stress on those people who depend on being able to bank face to face. Everyone does not have computer access or knowledge. Lots of people need to access CASH in an amount that the Co-op or other ATMs cannot deal with. Where is the council on this? Why didn't they do something to prevent this from happening? Why are they allowing yet ANOTHER cafe on The Strand when we already have 9 other ones? What are they doing to get a good vendor in the now vacant Bastins? The Dawlish high street is almost dead and the council is doing nothing to save it.
I agree that not everyone has computer access or knowledge and even if they do it doesn't follow that they do online banking. But, it seems that many do. Hence the drop in face to face transactions. It is the old adage. If you don't use it, you'll lose it.
Why is a commercial decision taken by the bank anything to do with the council? (and which council are we talking about here? town council? district council? county council?).
Does anyone know why Bastins closed?
What is and what is not allowed on the Strand (or most anyway else for that matter) is determined by planning policies which, even if they are local in nature, will have originally derived from national policies.
Why is who or what that ends up in what was Bastins anything to do with any of the councils?
More and more folk now do vast amounts of shopping online you just have to look at the amount of food and parcel delivery vehicles in and around Dawlish on a daily basis. I recently needed a new pair of walking boots i buy the same make from the same retailer and as with most things the boots are manufactured in China a well known brand sold by lots of major retailers. This time i have purchased the same boots direct from the manufacturers via a Chinese website saving over £70 delivery 9 days i recieved them yesterday. Now these days i never make a purchase without searching the net to find the best deal, i honestly cant see the point in walking round the shops wasting my retirement when i get what i want and save money with a click of a mouse.
A lot of the older people who live in Dawlish will soon be marooned in their homes if all the shops disappear. For a great many of them, the only face to face interaction with other people is when they go shopping, to the post office, bank, etc. It can't be any good for their mental and physical health to be stuck indoors without any reason to go out or place to go to. @leatash we may be internet-savvy but some don't have the necessary wish or wherewithal to do that. Why should there be only one option which is supposed to suit everybody?
To Lynne: I wrongly, it seems, thought that the Council was involved in determining what businesses open on The Strand. Mea culpa. It should have been the Planning Commission, I guess. So replace that with my naming the Council in my post - the concept is the same. We now have 9-soon-to-be-10 cafes, 4 barber shops and how many charity shops on the street. Services are dwindling at an amazing rate. No cop shop. A grocery store whose prices are sky high to compensate for the ridiculous rip-off rate by the druggies and alcoholics. And soon, no bank. This town is moribund.
Cassandra you have a valid point but my generation are on borrowed time and the next generation down have the wherewithal and they and the generation behind them will see the High Street go the way of the Dodo. My childrens lives revolve round there phones and laptops and they totally depend on the internet my fear for my children is what happens if the internet disappears through some global catastrophe me i could revert back but my kids god only knows.
People ought to visit Betfred. Free cuppa/tea or coffee with or without and even a chioce of no suger instead a sweetner. Sometimes ther are snacks and biscuits. I believe the same goes for Harrisons. Why people pay humungous prices for a cuppa in the cafe's is beyond me.
Oh! I am gradually taken my pennies away from Lloyds already.
Both Lloyds Bank and TSB will remain part of Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) untilTSB is floated on the stock exchange, which is expected to take place next year. Of the 1,931 Lloyds TSB branches, 631 have become TSB branches. I donot know how accurate that is.