Annual Reports - 1951
As in the previous financial year, the Committee of Management reported that annual withdrawals had exceeded
annual deposits. This year, however, the excess of withdrawals over deposits (£2,296,291) was greater than that added to balances
by the capitalisation of interest (£2,271,083), resulting in the first decrease in deposit balances since the Bank commenced. The
Committee compared this performance with the substantial increase in savings during the War years, and referenced it to the current
economic climate. Reference was also made to withdrawals amounting to £1,480,000 on the closure of the accounts of 4,372 deceased
depositors; with the Bank having been in existence for over 30 years, the next two decades would be bound to see many of
its initial depositors reach the age of 65-plus, when the median age at death in 1950 was 72 for men and 77 for women. The report
to the City Council seeks approval to purchase land for a replacement Harborne branch - this purchase goes ahead, but the land is
never utilised, and eventually returns to the ownership of the Council in 1976.
(1) Published Report