Banking services return to the Peak District

The new hub in Granby Road takes the place of a temporary facility

The Peak District's only in-person banking service has opened in Bakewell following the closure of the national park's last bank in 2024.

The banking hub is the 179th to open in the country under the Link scheme and will be overseen by Cash Access UK.

A temporary hub had been installed in the town until the permanent base was in operation.

Bakewell is a major tourist town often used as a base by many of the national park's roughly 13 million visitors each year.

The hub will provide over the counter banking services and a room for private discussions

The hub will be open from 09:00 until 17:00 every weekday.

Some locals had been left making hours-long round trips in order to find an in-person banking service, the nearest of which is Chesterfield or Leek.

Harry Pilkington from Bakewell, who describes himself as "computer illiterate", said it was "absolutely marvellous" to have banking services back in the town given the long journeys he was having to make.

"[I had to] get a bus in the square. And it would take hours because it was an hour there, an hour to get my business done, and an hour back," he said.

"Why it ever closed I don't know. They said nobody used it. Every time I went in that bank you had to queue. There was no justification.

"They don't care about customers at all now, it's just profits."

Harry Pilkington was pleased about the arrival of the service

Link, which makes decisions on which areas of the UK are able to have a banking hub, had initially rejected a previous appeal for the town to have one until recognising its importance as an agricultural centre and trading ground.

Many local farming market traders do not use contactless or other forms of digital payment when they are active in the town.

Auctioneers at the Agricultural Business Centre demonstrated to Link how much money changed hands in cheques and the difficulties in not having a bank nearby to help facilitate trade.

Claire Adrych, who oversees banking hubs in the Midlands for Cash Access UK, said the hub would return "vital access" to the community.

"It's vital banking services, basic banking services for those who need it", she said.

"Bakewell lost its bank a number of years ago...people were having to travel to access basic cash needs, for any basic transaction.

"Those who are digitally excluded, or don't want to use online which is absolutely fine, they have a service available.

"They can see someone face to face, sit down with someone in private and go through any sort of transactions they might have."

Claire Adrych from Cash Access UK says the hub will return services to those who are "digitally excluded"

John Whitby, Labour MP for Derbyshire Dales, said it was important to return the service to Bakewell.

"The Peak District National Park had no bank. That's a huge area of this country with no banking facility," he said. "It has been very obvious the need for access to cash.

"All the markets here, the independent shops, ageing population, let's face it, and you don't have to spend a lot of time in Bakewell to realise that even if you want to do online banking, the signal is appalling.

"There's a huge need for cash here."