Since your last Meeting the Manager has paid special visits of inspection to the Branches, and draws the attention of the Committee
to the following matters:
GENERAL.
There is a lack of
chairs for the use of the general public at many of the Branches, and stools are required for the staff at others. These should be
provided, and the Manager asks for authority to obtain same.
HANDSWORTH.
Cupboard accommodation is required for stationery,
or alternatively extra drawers fitted in counter. Lighting should be extended over the step entrance.
LOZELLS.
These premises are not suited for the administrative work of the Bank, and failing purchase, steps should be taken to bring the space at the back of the office into the general office space. Lavatory accommodation ought to be provided.
ASTON.
These premises are quite inadequate for the business being done.
The Branch has outgrown expectations, and unless premises can be secured elsewhere the Committee should consider the advisability
of extending by bringing the sitting-room into the Bank. Upon this professional advise should be sought. The public space is altogether
too little, and the working space too cramped. The ventilation is bad, as no through ventilation is available.
ERDINGTON.
The cellar and WC require cleaning and whitewashing and the office
decorating. Suitable lavatory arrangements are wanted, and the installation of a gas fire downstairs.
BALSALL HEATH.
These premises are too small and most unsatisfactory. The domestic
conditions are very bad, and the arrangements existing are a hardship to the staff. The Branch cannot develop in its present position,
and the Manager recommends Mr Wilde being instructed to find other accommodation without further delay. The rain having forced itself
through by the window, instructions have been given for the defects to be set right immediately.
ACOCK'S GREEN.
No ventilation was possible, the office being locked and windows
screwed fast. The Manager has had these made to open, and given instructions for the windows to be opened periodically by the party
living behind. The question should be considered as to whether this Branch would not do better if transferred to the shopping centre
by the Station.
HAY MILLS.
Office damp. Paper coming off the walls. This property is not worth acquiring, and is hardly in the right position. To transfer to
South Yardley might improve matters, but much depends upon the effect which the new BSA Works will have in the district.
DUDDESTON.
The Committee might now consider the advisability of taking down
the brass rails and replacing the present glass in windows and doors. The ceiling has again given way; this is the third time, and
the Manager has asked Mr McMichael, Architect, to advise what will really be effective in this matter. Ledger work cannot be satisfactorily
done at this Branch: there is no accommodation except the open counter, which is an objectionable system. The question of bringing
the inner office into part of the general office might be considered.
SALTLEY.
The arrangements for bringing cash down to a safe at Duddeston
do not give one confidence. The safe can only be kept in the inner room at Duddeston, and is in a very exposed condition. Despite
the views of the Guarantee Society, the Manager is of opinion that there is less risk in leaving the cash at Saltley Branch than there
is by transferring it to Duddeston as at present. The likelihood of burglary at the Hut is less than under the present arrangements.
Water has now been connected to the Hut, and a lavatory basin installed. The difficulty of WC accommodation still remains. The roof
has been leaking, and instructions have been given for the necessary repairs.
LADYWOOD.
The plaster is again coming off the wall, and the damp is apparently
beginning to rise again. It is advisable to obtain the opinion of some competent authority on this matter, and the Manager suggests
Mr McMichael being instructed to examine the walls and report.
ROTTON PARK.
The safe used at this Branch is the same safe that was used for the evening Branch when it was conducted in other premises. As considerably
more money is being taken at this Branch than when it was an evening Branch, the Manager recommends that a bent steel safe be obtained,
and the present safe returned and credit obtained for it. The public space and the working space of this Branch is quite inadequate,
and at the earliest date possible steps should be taken to secure more space.
BEARWOOD.
The partition which was originally put up in these premises to
give certain privacy to the Bank from the living portion of the premises, should be carried up to the ceiling. This means the addition
of about 1-ft. in a 6-ft. length, and the Manager advises this being done. The safe at this Branch should be exchanged for a bent
steel safe, and credit obtained for the present one. The Clerk-in-Charge has raised the question of erecting a suitable sign to give
more prominence from the Bearwood Road, and also making some fitment to the lamp outside so as to advertise the Bank at night. These
matters might well be considered by the Committee.
SELLY OAK.
On visiting these premises on Friday last, the Manager found the Bank turned out of their room and placed in another room, owing to
the Guardians having commandeered the room for relief purposes. The arrangements for conducting this branch are most unsatisfactory;
the necessary book-keeping has to be done either by bringing the books in to Head Office or by the Clerk, who is an official of the
Bank, taking them home to do. We are not allowed to remain in the premises beyond 7:30, and it does not give the Bank Staff
time to balance the books and cash in a reasonable manner. The risks being taken at this Branch are more than the Manager feels any
official should be asked to take.
As the Committee are aware, double-glazed windows adopted at Branches years ago have proved unsatisfactory. On the back of front panels
was painted the Coats of Arms, the "Key", or the Hours of Business, as the case may be. The rear panel was intended to be hermetically
sealed to the front panel. In course of time the hermetic seal failed, and the windows become disfigured by condensation; in fact,
some designs were obliterated and some of the letters or figures on the "Hours of Business" slipped to the bottom.
Recently at
the Rubery Branch single windows of ¼" polished plate glass have been fitted by the Midland Sandblast Co, with acid stippled ground
and the Coat of Arms or Key Sign sandblasted in the glass, the recesses being filled in with colour. Lines or fences separate each
colour in the Coat of Arms so that any subsequent recolouring would not need the services of an artist and would prove inexpensive.
Estimates
have been obtained for replacing certain of the worst windows at eight branch banks. The total estimate of Messrs Pearce and Cutler
Ltd is £369. 2. 1d of which £163. 8. 3d is classed as war damage, while the total of the estimates from the Midland Sandblast Company
is £301. 9. 8d of which £129. 7. 1d is classified as war damage. Your Sub-Committee therefore recommend that the estimates of the
Midland Sandblast Company, in the sum of £301. 9. 8d be accepted.
[The Branches were Aston Cross; Birchfield; Bordesley
Green; Duddeston; Little Bromwich; Rotton Park; Spring Hill; Witton.]
As the Committee are aware, the hours of business, where shown on existing windows, relate to the pre-war period, and it has been
necessary to paste notices over them giving the present hours of business. In later Branches the hours of business do not appear on
windows, but on a bronze plate fitted near the Branch entrance. These, however, were also the pre-war hours.
It is now proposed
to deal with bronze plates for twelve Branches. In nine cases it is possible to engrave and enamel the hours of business on the reverse
side of name plates no longer required, and in three cases to fix over existing hours of business plates a neat patch plate showing
present hours of business.
A quotation for the work has been obtained from Bronamel Signs Limited in the sum of £82. 16. 6d and
your Sub-Committee recommend that this quotation be accepted.