The title of this post doesn't refer to the temperature of 15° in a cloudy though balmy Rhuthun yesterday
Jane Gow also now known as the Mortgage Clinic and 75point3's Halifax agency closed at the end of last week. It now lies fallow before re-opening on Thursday 4th November, as a Santander agency. We can be relieved that the Halifax's decision to close most of its agencies won't now result in another gap in Rhuthun/Ruthin's streetscape. And it doesn't waste the obvious investment Jane Gow & Associates have made in Rhuthun.
Perhaps, now, people of Rhuthun who've previously invested in our only remaining "building society" alternative to the usual high street banks could defect en masse to Santander. Since the Halifax has been associated with Rhuthun for so many years, we suspect that there are more than a few such investors. At the very least, this would show solidarity with and support for the investment in Rhuthun, and local employment.
How come Santander can make its agencies work, when the former no. 1 building society cannot? Swapping the name on the front from a wet Yorkshire town to a warm Spanish city seems a little exotic for Rhuthun but, realistically, will Santander do any better than the Halifax? The Halifax agency, like the one in Upper Clwyd Street before it, could only handle routine business. Anything complicated, and the staff would need to phone somewhere, presumably a call centre. Why not cut out the middle man and do that yourself, or online?
To date, the Halifax has been pretty much a permanent feature of Rhuthun that it's hard to remember a time without it. They've been with the former K Hugh Dodd & Partners (latterly, indeed for over 20 years, Dodd's Property World) on the Square since Dodd opened an office in the town. Back then, it was possible to deposit and withdraw money over an unprotected counter in the midst of the estate agency. No separate serving area, no glass barrier, no CCTV, no safety cash trays. Those serving might one minute have given you fifty quid from an unprotected till under their main counter and the next arrange a property viewing.
As part of the conversion process, the large Halifax sign on the building's Wynnstay Road side went some while ago. Since this was relatively new and postdated Jane Gow, what a waste of effort that was, in putting it up. The building's exterior has also had a repaint—again. It was done before Jane Gow moved in, in September 2008. Scaffolding in place for over a month saw little action till just before it was taken down in August.
Note the car in the above image does *not* represent modern day Rhuthun!
Jane Gow also now known as the Mortgage Clinic and 75point3's Halifax agency closed at the end of last week. It now lies fallow before re-opening on Thursday 4th November, as a Santander agency. We can be relieved that the Halifax's decision to close most of its agencies won't now result in another gap in Rhuthun/Ruthin's streetscape. And it doesn't waste the obvious investment Jane Gow & Associates have made in Rhuthun.Perhaps, now, people of Rhuthun who've previously invested in our only remaining "building society" alternative to the usual high street banks could defect en masse to Santander. Since the Halifax has been associated with Rhuthun for so many years, we suspect that there are more than a few such investors. At the very least, this would show solidarity with and support for the investment in Rhuthun, and local employment.
How come Santander can make its agencies work, when the former no. 1 building society cannot? Swapping the name on the front from a wet Yorkshire town to a warm Spanish city seems a little exotic for Rhuthun but, realistically, will Santander do any better than the Halifax? The Halifax agency, like the one in Upper Clwyd Street before it, could only handle routine business. Anything complicated, and the staff would need to phone somewhere, presumably a call centre. Why not cut out the middle man and do that yourself, or online?
To date, the Halifax has been pretty much a permanent feature of Rhuthun that it's hard to remember a time without it. They've been with the former K Hugh Dodd & Partners (latterly, indeed for over 20 years, Dodd's Property World) on the Square since Dodd opened an office in the town. Back then, it was possible to deposit and withdraw money over an unprotected counter in the midst of the estate agency. No separate serving area, no glass barrier, no CCTV, no safety cash trays. Those serving might one minute have given you fifty quid from an unprotected till under their main counter and the next arrange a property viewing.
As part of the conversion process, the large Halifax sign on the building's Wynnstay Road side went some while ago. Since this was relatively new and postdated Jane Gow, what a waste of effort that was, in putting it up. The building's exterior has also had a repaint—again. It was done before Jane Gow moved in, in September 2008. Scaffolding in place for over a month saw little action till just before it was taken down in August.
Note the car in the above image does *not* represent modern day Rhuthun!