The HSBC branch in Bath has celebrated its 100th anniversary, marking ten decades of supporting residents and customers in the city.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the branch | Photo © HSBC
The branch, which opened on 25th May 1925 at 41 Southgate Street, first opened its doors as a sub-branch to the Milsom Street branch and was initially managed by Ernest Hudson Bellamy.
It was four years later, on 1st November 1929, that the branch became separately managed, with Oliver Frankland Gilbert, a former employee of the Milsom Street branch, becoming the branch manager.
A small branch, it was still under the management of Oliver Gilbert when the Second World War broke out in 1939.
The Second World War halted the bank’s growth and brought widespread destruction to the branch network, with over 1,350 reports of damage following aerial bombardment of major towns and cities.
At the time, there were just four members of staff in the branch and much coming and going, as men left to enlist with the armed forces and others came to temporarily fill their places. At least four men enlisted to serve with the armed forces, all returning safely and being discharged in 1946.
With so many men leaving their branches to join the war effort, many more female members of staff were employed across the bank.
Over the course of the war, 3 female support staff were employed in the Bath Southgate Street branch to help ensure customers could still access banking services in the city.
Training centres were created across the country to provide new staff with crash courses in the skills they would need to become cashiers, securities clerks and accountants.
By the end of the war, women were almost exclusively staffing the cashier’s desks and were undertaking work normally assigned to male members of staff, such as securities, foreign work and overseeing the safes and strongrooms.
Banking was still heavily focused inside the branch in the 1950s, with the vast majority of transactions conducted onsite and with staff relying on manual typewriters, ledger-posting machines and hand-written reference cards.
As the twentieth century progressed, life at the Southgate Street branch gradually began to transform, especially as new technologies were introduced during the 1960s and the branch accounts were computerised on 3rd September 1973.
By 1980, the branch had changed its location from 31 to 41 Southgate Street.
Kirsty Vinnicombe, Network Manager at Bath Southgate Street branch, said: “The Southgate Street branch in Bath has seen a lot since it opened 100 years ago.
“Over the past century, the Bath branch has witnessed significant local and global events, supporting customers through various economic cycles and personal milestones.
“Generations of Bath residents have relied on the branch for everything from opening their first savings account to securing mortgages for their homes and supporting their business ventures.
“Reaching our 100th anniversary in Bath is a testament to the dedication of our teams, past and present, and the enduring trust of our customers.
“We are immensely proud to have been a part of Bath’s growth and prosperity for so long and look forward to doing so for many more years.”
