Nationwide branches in Herefordshire to get refresh

Building society Nationwide plans to refresh the look of its Herefordshire branches, as part of a commitment to buck the national trend by investing locally.

It has submitted applications for what is termed advertisement consent to change the exteriors of its branches in Commercial Street, Hereford, and Market Place, Ross-on-Wye.

If granted, both main signs qwill be deep blue and incorporate the company’s new simplified red logo, which will also appear on projecting signs.

The new slogan “A good way to bank” will be added on the windows.

The cashpoint at the Hereford branch will also get a new look, while the cashpoint-less Ross branch will get new wooden window blinds.

A similar application covering a third Herefordshire branch, in Leominster, is also expected, as the building society rolls out its rebranding, its biggest since 1987, across all its 605 UK branches.

It claims this figure now exceeds that of any other bank, and last month promise not to not leave any town or city in which it is based until at least 2026, “in sharp contrast to mass bank closures up and down the country in recent years”.

In Herefordshire these have included closures of Barclays, HSBC and Halifax in Leominster, Lloyd’s in Bromyard (the town’s last), Barclays in Ledbury and HSBC in Ross since the start of last year.

Comments on the applications for advertisement consent, numbered 232992 (Hereford) and 233399 (Ross-on-Wye), can be made until December 7 and 21 respectively.