Battle of Britain debanking row: Charity loses £8k as Barclays closes account

Battle of Britain trustees were told it was being exited because it was the “wrong entity” after an administrative change in 2016.

A new account was eventually set up but the cash wasn’t able to be migrated and was returned to donors.

The charity has labelled the episode “nonsensical” and laughed off the bank’s £100 compensation offer.

Group Captain Patrick Tootal, the Battle of Britain Memorial’s Honorary Secretary, told GB News: "It’s bureaucratic nonsense.

“We had all this money sitting in our account that the charity needs for the upkeep of the site. Totally nonsensical.”

Barclays first wrote to The Battle of Britain Memorial in 2022 seeking clarification on its charitable status as it says the account was the wrong entity.

It came as a result of the charity changing from being unincorporated to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2016.

This brings a number of security benefits including protecting the trustees against the likes of legal action.

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Despite correspondence between the trust and Barclays, the account was closed in November last year.

More than £8,000 from 285 regular contributors, called Friends of the Few, was returned to the supporters.

The charity now says it may not get those yearly donations back.

Patrick, a former RAF officer, said: “We spent Christmas writing to them to explain the situation and ask them to create a standing order again.

“It ended up costing us £200 and it’s likely we won’t get the 285 Friends of the Few back.”

He added: “The £8,000 is a real loss for us. That goes towards the upkeep of the memorial, maintenance, repairs, that sort of thing.

“Barclays told us it couldn’t transfer the money from the old account to the new one. For the trouble, they offered us £100 compensation. It’s laughable.”

A Barclays spokesman said: “Barclays serves many charities across the UK and we recognise the contribution they make to society.

"It’s important we fully understand our customers’ activity to ensure we can fully support them and meet our regulatory obligations and our ongoing responsibility to help prevent financial crime.

"As we have not had permission from the business owner concerned, we are not able to comment on this account as it would breach data protection.”