Is East Leake Village Starting To Go Into in Decline?

Did you know that the Halifax counter at John German estate agents is to close down in October?  You might wonder what this has to do with a village that far from declining, is in fact expanding and thriving but think about it carefully...

Halifax is withdrawing all agency operated counters including the one in East Leake so don't be beguiled by those smooth, happy adverts full of smiling faces and catchy tunes. Halifax are not nice people to do business with. Whether or not you bank with Halifax, you should be concerned because this company has a near monopoly on banking locally, much of it for local elderly and vulnerable people.  Please add your details to our Online Survey and protest against the closure.

By the way, this is not the decision of John German so please don't complain to that company - they are probably as disappointed as the customers.

Sadly many businesses base their decisions purely on financial criteria and ignore their responsibility to the community that has supported them through more prosperous times and this is just one example.  How many other businesses will follow? Rest assured, once businesses start to close, there is invariably a domino effect so make your protest known with our Online Survey and let's fight to keep our village prosperous..

Of course when any bank arrives at such a decision, it is entirely profit motivated and they take no account of the benefits they gained when other banks abandoned the village.  Nor do they seem to care that many of their customers are elderly or vulnerable. It seems that they have also overlooked the fact that many customers of the East Leake branch actually come from a much wider rural area that includes surrounding villages so the impact is far greater than they imagine.

Additionally, it appears that contrary to their written assertion that counter staff will be offered alternative positions, our local branch staff have only one realistic option - redundancy. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that Halifax has lied to its customers in order to persuade them to accept the closure but there are serious arguments against accepting it.

Having lived in Derbyshire for many years I've seen this happen to more than one village and it is a rapid process. Those shopkeepers who are approaching retirement will retire and other will simply move out their businesses to places where passing trade isn't falling off. As soon as the Post Office closes, rest assured that the village shopping centre will soon fall apart. It doesn't end there...

We should also consider that some of the businesses in the village use Halifax  for convenience so it isn't just individuals who will suffer. Apart from the inconvenience of having to travel to a branch further away, not to mention the financial and environmental cost of all those extra journeys, at least three jobs will disappear and there will be one less business paying rates to our local authority. Why should this matter?

It really does matter because having a thriving business community means that there are funds for financing local amenities such as our public toilets, schools, leisure centre, police station, post office and open spaces. Once that income is eroded, it doesn't take long before all these amenities come under the scrutiny of accountants and they become the subject of cost cutting exercises to save money.

Having lived in rural areas for much of my life, I have seen villages such as East Leake decline with the loss of their shops then their public amenities until they become either dormitory villages for commuters or deprived areas with increasing crime, lack of facilities, reduced or non existent policing and little health-care. We should protest in the strongest possible terms but we can do more...

If we want to keep our local businesses alive and retain East Leake as a great place to live, we have to support our local shops and businesses. I've heard people complain that local shops are expensive by people who travel into town to do their shopping and probably buy and spend more than they intended.  That is what I call expensive. In reality, most of the local shops are very competitive and convenient but even if they cost a few pence more, this is more than offset by the savings on transport and waste.

If you want to continue to enjoy local schools, leisure facilities and policing, it is time to wake up to the reality of neglecting local commerce. Please consider carefully the delicate balance of our local economy and start to shop locally, use local trades and imagine the consequences of losing what we have.  the village is growing with new a development on Gotham Road and others taking place in surrounding areas so there is sufficient trade to support the economy.

Please add your name and details to our Online Survey so we can at least try to persuade Halifax to reconsider their decision. As long as we have thriving businesses and a busy economy, we have the power to hold onto our precious amenities and public services.  Use it wisely before it is too late.