Have just returned after a long weekend away (yes, I missed Top Dre). You turn your back for five minutes (or days, in my case) and find that the Halifax building society is closing in Rhuthun/Ruthin. That's just 21 months after it transferred from Dodd's/Molyneux's to the formerly vacant Newyddion Rhuthun News, currently the Jane Gow agency. When it folds this October, the building it occupies will again form part of the long-standing empty unit cohort.Can't say I'm surprised, though. With telephone and internet banking and with the agency having to phone a "proper" branch for some transactions, it probably won't make much difference, except to older people who haven't felt able to keep up with technological, legal money laundering.
With the closure of the Halifax, we see the end of building societies in Rhuthun. Whereas the streets of larger towns and cities seem increasingly dominated by them, Rhuthun now has none, and savers who cannot or will not use the internet will need to travel to the nearest Halifax branches in Dinbych/Denbigh, Yr Wyddgrug/Mold or Wrecsam. There's not a great deal of choice in those alternative smaller towns, either. So, the Halifax decision is a balance. It's good for the Lloyds/HBOS banking empire, needing to make economies following the taxpayer's bailout, but bad for small town Wales, where we see another nail in the coffin for rural services. It's just one more service unavailable to us in town. If only bankers weren't so greedy in the first place.
At least you appear to be able to pay in (but not withdraw) at the post office on St Peter's Square. This at least will help support a similarly beleaguered institution, following the closure of the Llanfwrog post office some 18 months ago.