Metro Bank, the UK’s community bank, recently welcomed Maria Miller, Member of Parliament for Basingstoke to its Festival Place store.
Hosted by Basingstoke Metro Bank’s Local Director, Jenny Francis, Maria enjoyed a tour of the bank including the safe deposit boxes, vault, private viewing room and the coin counting Magic Money Machine, while Jenny explained about the Bank’s community focus, relationship banking and its aim to exceed expectations on service. Maria was pleased to hear that the store operates in the evenings and weekends and appreciated the face to face service that local businesses enjoyed as each is assigned a local business manager.
Jenny explained how her team supported local businesses, including SMEs and charities. “We talked about our commitment to the local community and the important role banks play in its health. We discussed the many ways in which we proactively engage with and support local businesses and individuals and their genuine need for access to cash and face to face banking services,” explains Jenny Francis, Basingstoke Metro Bank’s Local Director. “Our relationship-based approach really helps businesses thrive and sets us apart from other high-street banks.”
Maria is launching a campaign on domestic abuse and Jenny spoke about the fact that 52 of Metro Bank’s stores are ‘Safe Spaces’. All store colleagues undertake mandatory training and our relationship-based approach enables our team to spot signs of abuse and respond in an appropriate manner, taking into account specific circumstances. Metro Bank’s inclusion network ‘Women on Work’ has a colleague led domestic abuse group to suggest initiatives for this topic.
Maria was also interested to hear about the store team’s range of activities in the local community, including support for a number of local charities via Days to Amaze and the delivery of the Money Zone free financial education programme in schools. Metro Bank’s physical presence in the community is central to its ambition of becoming the number one community bank in the UK.
Metro Bank’s Basingstoke store is located at Unit 1, Chiswick House, Festival Place, Basingstoke, RG21 7LD. The store is open Monday to Saturday: 8.30am to Sundays: 11am to 5pm.