ONE of the town's oldest businesses has thanked loyal customers as they celebrated 125 years in Abergavenny.

Barclays Bank celebrated 125 years of serving Abergavenny with one of their most loyal customers Vivian Collins.

Mr Collins, 78 and his family have banked with the branch for 110 years in total. He and many other customers enjoyed a slice of cake to celebrate last week.

Barclays in Abergavenny traces its history back to the Abergavenny Financial Company Limited, which is known to have been operating from an office at 2 Tiverton Place in 1885. Little is known of the company, and in 1890, the assets and goodwill of the business were bought by the Birmingham District and Counties Bank for £4580. Having gained this foothold within the economic life of the town, the Bank set up shop in temporary premises while looking for a more suitable permanent home. Frogmore House was bought for £1500, and the Bank immediately set about making plans for alterations.

With contractor J G Thomas engaged to carry out the work, the project proceeded at last, and was finished by January 1893, having cost over £2600. On the ground floor, a banking hall, Manager's room and strong room comprised the business part of the premises, while a hall, kitchen, lobby, scullery, larder and toilet formed part of the Manager's residence. This continued upstairs on the first and second floors with a drawing room, dining room, dressing room, bathroom, toilet, six bedrooms and, intriguingly, a room labelled as 'boudoir' on the plan.

The Manager at that time was Mr A W Hoskins, on a salary of £200. With opening hours of 10am to 3pm (10am to 1pm on Thursdays), he was assisted by two young men, F R Britton on £70 and H A Hall on £60. The Birmingham District and Counties Bank became the United Counties Bank in 1907, and then amalgamated with Barclay and Company Limited in 1916. At that time, the staff at the branch numbered five. However, World War One meant that more and more men were joining the armed forces, and by 1918, Mr Britton was the sole man at the branch, managing three women, Doris Pritchard, Matilda Rogers and Muriel Griffiths.

Although most of the women employed in male occupations gave up their jobs once the men returned, a few remained and an important precedent had been set. When the pattern was repeated in World War Two, more women stayed on, and by the 1960s, the number of women in Barclays outnumbered men. Coupled with the development of modern technology, this led to a number of changes within branches, as demonstrated by Abergavenny, which underwent dramatic changes in the 1960s.

The old Manager's residence had long since ceased to be - the upper floors were already rented out as offices to tenants. On the ground floor, the banking hall was extended, and the areas formerly used as domestic space became a staff room, a stationery store and a ladies toilet. What had been a yard became part of the branch, housing the machine room and a new strong room. Further expansion occurred during the 1980s, when the Bank reclaimed the upper floors of the branch to provide more space for new services such as personal bankers.

Sian Higgins, Barclays Branch Manager at Abergavenny thanked staff and customers who have passed through the doors during the last century.

She said, "To provide banking services to the people of Abergavenny for over 125 years is quite an achievement. The existing branch has served us well over the last century and now provides power assisted doors, hearing induction loops, a dedicated low level till for disability access and is fully equipped for today's customer requirements."

Things have definitely changed since 1885 and technology has had a major impact on banking. The thought of Barclays having over 5 million online customers in1885, conducting transactions across the world, from the comfort of their armchair and a female branch manager would have been laughed at. While traditional banking may have changed, the staff at Abergavenny branch still pride themselves on great customer service and a commitment to the local community."

Mr Collins said, "My father Thomas Arthur Collins banked there and I set up my first account. From day one I have been with Barclays and all the staff at the branch are lovely. It's nice to go there and know everyone's faces.