A couple of months back I asked for some assistance on social media in writing about the Abbey National plc in Blantyre. Thanks to many people on Facebook and following up some research, I was able to compile the following notes. For the record then and sake of completeness….
Abbey National plc – was a UK-based bank and former building society, which latterly traded under the Abbey brand and Santander name. Along with RBOS, it was one of two banks to occupy the Clydeview Shopping Centre in 1981, in the retail units adjoining the Asda shop at Glasgow Road.
The Abbey was in a unit where the façade changed direction, where now Baker Criminal lawyers are based, facing out on to Glasgow Road. When it opened, adjacent shops included Rinaldi’s Chipshop (later Luciano’s) and Raptures Clothing Shop (which had a hairdresser above). It had an ATM outside the façade, which is remembered as being one of the first in Blantyre. Ex-Boxer Jim Watt officially opened the Abbey National to the public, signing autographs and handing out signed photos.
The entrance was on the left and the frontage was all window glass. The Abbey National had white signage with red writing.
It had postcode G720QD and is remembered for having a good savings programme for children and adults alike with customers receiving a small pay-in book, first manually written into, then during the mid 1980’s, typed into with each incoming or outgoing transaction. The childrens savings had “Mickey Mouse” payin books.
In 1989, with branches at Hamilton also being rebranded, the Blantyre branch closed down for good, causing much frustration and forcing many people to change their bank in Blantyre to either the Royal Bank of Scotland or further up Glasgow Road to the Clydesdale Bank.
From “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017