Skipton Building Society in Yeadon set to close in September

In a letter to local councillors, Laura Heney of the building society said that it “is not a decision we have taken lightly and has been made following close consideration of changing customer behaviour and analysis of both internal and external data.”

The building society said it had already started writing to customers to tell them about the closure of the Cliffe Court branch, expected to be on Tuesday, September 12, and would be contacting vulnerable customers separately to discuss with them the impact it will have on them.

Otley & Yeadon ward Councillors Colin Campbell, Ryk Downes and Sandy Lay have express concern and disappointment about the impending closure.

Cllr Campbell said: ”This is a real blow to the community. Building Societies were created to serve communities like Yeadon and the loss of a branch can only cause issues for a town which has already lost most of its banking facilities."

Cllr Downes added: "We expressed concern when Skipton decided to reduce branch hours. In other areas this has always been seen as a precursor to closure as reducing access forces customer to go elsewhere."

And Cllr Lay said: "We have asked Skipton to think again. This is the only facility available for many residents and Skipton have an obligation to the Yeadon Community. If nothing else they should be working with other providers to create a banking hub which allows users of all banks and building societies to have shared access to service.”

An impact assessment report carried out by Skipton says: “Many of our customers are now choosing to manage their money with us differently, for example online or over the phone. This ultimately means customers are visiting our branches less.

“We decided to review the ways we serve our customers across our branches, taking into consideration many factors including where a branch is located, how often it’s being used, the cost of maintaining the standards of the facilities and the other alternative options in the local area.

“After assessing any potential impacts to our customers and identifying suitable alternative ways for them to manage their money with us, we’ve reached the decision to close this branch.”

The report adds: “Yeadon has a relatively low volume of customers transacting and saving with the Society. Nearly half of the customers already use another branch in our network, and we’ve seen increased usage of our app, as well as online and telephony services.

“The other nearby branches will remain available. Additionally, significant cost would be incurred to maintain the facilities in Yeadon, more than we think is reasonable for good value to our members.”