Consett work extends Newcastle Building Society’s branch upgrade programme

A mutual is further rolling out a multi-million-pound branch investment programme with the upgrade of a County Durham base.

Newcastle Building Society is renovating a site on Consett’s Middle Street.

Bosses say work on the 1,076 sq ft space will deliver a modern and welcoming high street environment, providing customers easy access to services, information and advice, and private meeting space.

The branch is expected to open in early November.

Rowlands Gill-based STP Construction has been appointed as lead contractor on the refurbishment, with a temporary branch maintained within the building while work is carried out.

The work further adds to a programme of improvement across the society’s high street and community hub estate, which has previously seen it open a new base in Barnard Castle, County Durham, and reveal an expansion into Bishop Auckland.

It is also setting up operations in Hawes, North Yorkshire, and Wooler, Northumberland.

Stuart Miller, customer director at Newcastle Building Society, said: “While many other financial institutions are closing branches across the North East, we are extending our contribution to maintaining the vitality and sustainability of local communities around the region and reaffirming our commitment to the people living in them.

“We are investing heavily in enhancing and upgrading a modern branch network that sits right at the heart of our operations, and our growing presence across County Durham is central to this process.

“The reaction we’ve had from customers in locations where we’ve already made improvements to existing offices or opened new branches has been really positive, and we think our Consett customers will be very pleased with their new facilities too.”