MSP urges RBS to listen to its customers

An independent review carried out on behalf of RBS by Johnston Carmichael- a firm of Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers- of ten branches across Scotland given a temporary reprieve from closure including Biggar and Douglas, has just been completed with the results now being reviewed.

Colin Smyth has written to RBS Chief Executive Ross McEwan urging him to listen to customers and staff of the local branches and keep them open. In his letter he has pointed out that since the bank have reported significant profits but the latest independent survey of the views of bank customers showed that customers’ likelihood of recommending the bank has plummeted.

Colin said, “The so-called independent review of the 10 branches given a stay of execution has now ended and bank bosses will decide whether their shocking cull of branches continues. Given that RBS have rightly been slated for their branch closures and as a result customers now won’t even recommend their own bank, I hope this gives RBS pause for thought and they wake up to the fact that yet more grief from more closures would be bad for business”.

“At the end of the day, RBS don’t care about staff or the impact on local communities but they hopefully will understand that their decision to axe so many branches has had a detrimental impact on their reputation and they will now put a halt to plans for anymore closures”.

“The company are making a substantial profit and frankly any more closures would save them pennies and just isn’t worth it. It is deeply disappointing that the UK Government, who own a majority of shares in RBS, still haven’t stepped in to stop the closures when they have the power to do so. We are left with having to appeal to bank bosses whose judgement and previous decisions has actually damaged their own company’s reputation in the eyes of their customers.”