On Wednesday 23rd March 2022, it was announced that the Bank of Scotland in Alness is to close, permanently, on 27th July 2022.

This branch has been an essential part of this town for decades. It serves people from all over Alness and also the wider area. Around 60% of the customers of this branch could be considered vulnerable and would struggle to bank elsewhere.

From the date of closure, if somebody wishes to go into a bank of Scotland, they will have to travel to the Dingwall branch, which is often shut and is over 10 miles away, the Tain branch, which is over 13 miles away or an Inverness branch, the closet of which is over 19 miles away. Not everybody can do that and not all customers are able to do their banking online. To travel to these other branches can cost over £10 a ticket on Public Transport. Lloyd's Banking Group also say's that people are able to use the Post Office in Alness, but the Post Office doesn't have all the services the bank has.

The Alness branch of Bank of Scotland is a busy branch and it does make money. Lloyd's Banking Group, who own the Bank of Scotland, say the demographics make this bank less utilised and yet they have failed to consider the demographics of the wider area.

Obviously, Lloyd's Banking Group believes that it can save money by shutting the Alness Bank of Scotland Branch. However, we feel the Lloyd's Banking Group could save money by simply not giving multi-million pound bonuses to CEOs like Charlie Nunn, who had only been in position for 6 months when the bonus was received.

By signing this petition you will be asking the Lloyd's Banking Group to review their decision and to keep the Alness Branch of the Bank of Scotland open. You will also be protecting the jobs of those who work in the Alness Branch, some of which have worked there for over 30 years.

If this petition fails people will have to travel a lot further to use a bank or will not have access to all the services they want within the local area. Some staff at the Alness Branch might lose jobs and others may themselves have to travel long distances to get to work.

Please help make this petition successful by signing today.