Metro Bank, the community bank, recently welcomed Kim Johnson, Member of Parliament for Liverpool Riverside to its Paradise Street store.
Hosted by Metro Bank Local Director Gary Owens Kim enjoyed a tour of the bank including the safe deposit boxes, vault, private viewing rooms and the coin counting Magic Money Machine, while Gary explained about the Bank’s community focus, relationship banking and its aim to exceed expectations on service.
Gary explained how the team supported local businesses, including SMEs and charities. “Our relationship-based approach really helps businesses thrive and sets us apart from other high-street banks,” explains Gary Owens, Local Director. ‘’ Our Local Business Manager Danielle Blundell spoke to Kim about supporting non-profit organisations and offering them a relationship manager which few banks do. We also talked about our commitment to the high street and the important role banks play in the health of the local community. We discussed the many ways in which we proactively engage with and support the local community and the genuine need for access to cash and face to face banking services.”
Kim was interested to hear that we often run business events in-store to help local businesses connect and broaden their networks. Bank colleagues also deliver Money Zone – a free financial education programme in local schools and Assistant Store Manager Scott Leonard spoke to Kim about Money Zones sessions that we had ran with St Patricks, a primary school in Toxteth located in Kim’s constituency.
Kim heard about the store team’s range of activities in the local community. Metro Bank gives every colleague a Day to Amaze – essentially a paid day off to support a local charity or good cause. Metro Bank’s physical presence in the community is central to its ambition of becoming the number one community bank in the UK. Owens concluded: “Kim was also keen to know about how we support colleagues to progress. I explained that my store manager joined me as an assistant store manager and that both of the assistant store managers started out as customer service representatives. I explained that other colleagues who joined us when we opened in 2020 are now working in our customer relations team and our fraud teams.”
Metro Bank’s Liverpool store can be found at 15 Paradise Street, L1 3EU. The store is open 7 days a week, Monday – Saturday: 8.30am – 6pm and Sunday: 11am to 5pm. Liverpool Metro Bank is part of the Safe Space scheme – the store is available to anyone experiencing, or at risk of domestic abuse, providing the opportunity to safely call a helpline, support service or loved one.