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Yorkshire Building Society shows commitment to Lancaster as agency converts to branch

Cat Smith MP visited Yorkshire Building Society's Lancaster branch to celebrate the mutual's ongoing commitment to the city.

Joanne Shields, Lancaster branch manager (far left), Cat Smith MP (centre) and Dave Smith, Yorkshire Building Society retail agency network manager (far right) with branch colleagues at Yorkshire Building Society's Lancaster branch.

The Society has been based at Ashton Walk, St Nicholas Arcades, for 25 years.

It became an agency in 2019, but when the proprietor decided recently that it was no longer a good fit with their future plans, the mutual reaffirmed its commitment to Lancaster by converting the location back to a branch and boosting staff numbers.

The location has 8,000 customers and saw more than 10,000 transactions take place last year.

Joanne Shields, who worked in the agency, has become the new manager of Yorkshire Building Society’s Lancaster branch. She said: “We’ve been in Lancaster for a quarter of a century and I’m delighted we’re staying.

“We’re committed to Lancaster and looking forward to continuing to serve our customers and community as a branch.

“Customers don’t need to take any action or do anything differently. We’re still in the same place and when they next call in they will see the familiar, friendly faces they are used to.”

Cat Smith, MP for Lancaster and Wyre, who visited the branch yesterday (Tuesday 17 June) said: “I welcome Yorkshire Building Society’s ongoing commitment to serving the people of Lancaster. It was a pleasure to visit, meet the team and talk to them about how they plan to continue to support customers and the local community.”

The agency closed on Friday 13 June and reopened as a branch on Monday 16 June.

Agency staff working on Society activity will continue in their roles in the new branch and they will be joined by two new part-time colleagues.

The branch opening hours will be:

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays: 9am-4.30pm

Wednesdays: 9.30am-4.30pm

Saturdays: 9am-12noon