End of an era for Wick bank
Lots of loyal TSB customers turned up to say thank you to the staff of the Wick branch when they closed the door for the last time on Tuesday.
Local manager Maureen Coghill, who started with the bank after leaving school nearly 43 years ago, said: "We were all very sad about the closing of the bank, it is sad for our customers and the town too – another empty building.
"We had a lot of regular, loyal customers and we were overwhelmed by the number who came in on the last day to make transactions and say cheerio – they were queuing up as far as the old Woolies building. They were sad that we were losing our jobs. We had so many gifts and well wishes – it was just amazing."
The local manager worked alongside Anne Mackay, one of the customer assistants, who also joined the bank after leaving school completing 46 years service, and branch manager Jennifer Darroch, who has been with the TSB for 32 years having started in Thurso then transferred to Aberdeen before returning to Caithness. They have each taken redundancy from the bank.
Mrs Coghill added: "One of our bosses said there will not be many businesses that will have kept staff for all those years and we were thanked for our loyalty to the bank."
The TSB had been a feature in the town's High Street for many years, and was known as the Aberdeen Savings Bank when the final two long-serving staff started there after leaving school.
Closure of the Wick branch was announced in a press release last September as part of a three-year strategy. A total of 73 branches across Scotland were earmarked for closure at the time.
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