Nationwide says branch footfall has increased as building society calls for brands to commit to High Street

It comes amid widespread bank branch closures, with big banks closing 2,107 branches across five years.

Nationwide, which is now the biggest financial services brand on the high street, says it has seen footfall increase, with some branches now back to pre-pandemic levels of visitors.

​It said almost half of all fixed-rate savings products are opened in branches. The building society attributes much of this to a shift in people’s working and shopping patterns since the pandemic.

Nationwide and campaign group SaveTheHighStreet.org are calling on big brands to do more in committing to the UK’s town centres next year, to turn around the fortunes of ailing high streets in the UK.

Mandy Beech, Director of Retail Services at Nationwide, said: “People and communities still very much want to visit their local high street.

“But the challenge we face is that without a longer-term commitment from big brands, consumers will have less and less reason to visit them other than at Christmas.

“Our customers are telling us they still want branches and our Branch Promise ensures we are committing as far into the future as we can.

“The fact we are seeing our branches get busier shows that not only do people value them but that they are still very much using them.”

Christmas is set to give the long-struggling UK High Street a boost, with Nationwide’s UK-wide poll of more than 2,000 consumers finding nearly six in 10 (58 per cent) of people plan to visit their local high street to support the local community.

It’s not just the older generation who intend to shop locally for their Christmas shopping in 2023 either, with the research finding 71 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds asked are planning to visit the high street.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• NatWest accused of 'debanking' popular town - 'People outside of cities are forgotten!'
• Barclays to close 18 more bank branches - full list of fresh closures
• Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland to close 45 branches - full list

Alex Schlagman, founding partner of SaveTheHighStreet.org, said. “Successful high streets benefit everyone through the festive periods and beyond.

"Alongside a diverse and thriving independent sector, it’s important that high streets also have strong anchor brands.

“Most of the department stores that once anchored our high streets have now disappeared, leaving huge voids that need to be reimagined and repopulated with the offerings that people now want locally.

“This is a huge opportunity to change high streets for the better in 2024 and we are calling brands, both big and small, as well as anyone who cares about the future of our high streets, to join this movement.”