Big banking birthdays at the Cumberland

It was party time at two of the Cumberland Building Society’s Scottish branches as they celebrated landmark birthdays.

The Annan branch marked half a century since it opened in 1974 while the Dumfries branch hit 40 years since its doors opened in 1984.

The Annan branch’s remarkable history of service to the town also makes it the Cumberland’s first Scottish branch and the society’s second-oldest branch after the Preston branch, which enjoyed its 50th birthday last year.

Cumberland colleagues and customers enjoyed birthday cakes and balloons to mark the big branch birthdays on 25th September.

Customers in Annan joined in with the celebrations, including one lady who has banked with the Cumberland for all of the 50 years it has been open in the town.

“I’ve been a customer of the Cumberland since it opened. I can’t fault them, nothing is a problem to them at any time. It doesn’t matter how busy or how much pressure they are under, they are always wonderful, and I trust them implicitly,” she said.

Scotland cluster manager Ryan McCubbin, who looks after all the branches north of the Border, said: “It’s really exciting to see the Annan branch celebrate its 50th birthday and the Dumfries branch its 40th.

“We’re really proud to be here when other banks and societies are closing across the region. Each year we are seeing closures in the town around Annan and for us to still be here supporting people is really important to us.

“We are ultimately here for the benefit of our members and our communities and it’s nice to be able to give something back to the people who have supported us for as long as they have over the last 50 years.”

There will be a celebratory atmosphere as the branches are decorated with balloons and the cakes get cut.

The Cumberland’s Scottish branches, including their sister branch in Lockerbie which celebrated its 40th birthday last year, are proud to have been trusted by generations of local people and businesses.

In that time changes to the banking industry have been enormous. 40 years ago, branches did not have computers and transactions were recorded by hand.

Colleagues hand wrote customers’ passbooks and completed transaction sheets which were posted every night to head office.

While technology has transformed the way that financial institutions work, the commitment to looking after customers, online or in one of the branches has not changed.

Celebrations were also being enjoyed South of the border, as Longtown turned 40 and Rosehill marked 35 years of service.

It was a double celebration at Longtown as Customer Assistant Liz Ward has worked in the branch for 40 years.

She said: “Of course, banking has evolved over time and it’s a completely different work environment now. I enjoy it and the customers are lovely. As a place to work, it’s changed an awful lot, particularly over the last 10 years.”