The following statement – from a spokesman for the Bank of Scotland – has been obtained only with persistence on our part and a mix of reluctance and lack of obvious interest on the part of the Bank.

‘In a small number of locations, including Islay, we found that most of the contact between the bank and its customers was sporadic and over the telephone. As a result, it was no longer commercially viable in these cases to retain a face-to-face business manager.

‘Customers who currently have a face-to-face business manager will still be looked after by a business manager from one of our Commercial Centres, who will travel out to see their customers on a regular basis. Appointments will be at mutually convenient times and while we cannot guarantee a next day meeting our relationship managers can always be reached on the telephone or by e-mail.

‘In response to the concerns of local businesses and other stakeholders, Bank of Scotland is also currently assessing whether any further support is appropriate for the Highlands & Islands. We expect to complete this review before the end of the year.

‘To be clear, any additional support that we may provide would not include full time representation on Islay. The size of the local economy does not support this. As part of this review we will try and ensure that all of the business on Islay where a face to face relationship is in place is looked after by one relationship manager so that local knowledge is optimised’.

If this inadequate service is what this Bank, whose major shareholder includes the residents of Islay – gets away with, For Argyll will want information on every use of that service – whether helpful or not.

Will Islay business folk get the same voice on the other end of the phone – a voice belonging to someone with whom they can build a knowledgeable relationship in which they can have confidence? Will it be the same adviser who travels to the island each time for the appointed face-to-face interviews? Will Islay businesses feel that they and their specific island economy are know to and understood by the east coast telephone daleks they deal with? Who’d bet on it? But, given the information, we will relentlessly log it and publicise it – good and bad – if no other outcome is brought about.

Given the unreliability that is now a feature of the fiscal and customer service conduct of the banks, is there room for an innovative and independent solution to this situation? There are some first class financially expert and left field creative brains in Scotland which could surely rise to this challenge.

The possibility of setting up an Islay mutual savings and loan association would be well worth a look. If one word sums up Islay it is ‘mutuality’.

Might successful Islay businesses invest in the development of well found growing businesses in their own place? The return on investment could be better than they will get elsewhere these days.

The Bank of Scotland’s action in this matter ill behoves a bank whose unsound practices and high-risk failed investments have:

• made a major contribution to bringing low the economy of the UK;
• brought hardship through job losses to Scotland and well beyond;
• caused an otherwise sound bank – Lloyds – to accompany it into public ownership;
• damaged Scotland’s previous reputation for financial probity.

The Bank’s current mindset on support for Islay businesses cannot but strengthen calls for full nationalisation of the banks – or at least of those with current majority public ownership.

Corporate social responsibility in any situation – and particularly in the one occupied by a bank with a reputation in need of intensive care, has to be set in balance with shaving profit margins.

For a sense of the universal outrage amongst Islay businesses, read the comments that have flooded in and are being added regularly below our main story on the situation. They make compelling reading.

The photograph above – of Portnahaven on Islay – is by copyright holder Sue Anderson of Island Focus and may not be reproduced without permission.

This game is not over.

Related Posts

• Islay business banking crisis: updates from Mather and McGrigor (4)
• McGrigor supports For Argyll call for pro tem retention of Islay bank manager (0)
• McGrigor rejects Bank’s response on Islay situation and asks for hard facts (0)
• McGrigor slams HBOS on Islay businesses left beached (52)
• Mather gets no change out of Rice at the Bank (0)

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