MORE THAN £150,000 will be needed to get your hands on a former Shaw bank that has gone up for sale.
And it is believed there are no restrictions on what it could be converted into if a buyer wishes to.
What used to be the RBS building on Rochdale Road has been put up for sale.
And anyone wanting to buy it will have to pay at least £155,000.
The Correspondent reported how the branch closed its doors on January 28, with its future remaining unknown.
Now it is on the market to anyone who wants to develop the building or, maybe, even keep it as a bank.
The Correspondent understands it is still in the early stages of marketing the property, so people are in the dark about what it will end up as.
However, it is believed no restrictions are in place over what it could end up as.
Sellers Avison Young describe the building as being in, ‘a reasonably affluent suburb, approximately three miles to the north of Oldham and 10 miles north east of Manchester.
‘Shaw is accessed by the A663 and is close to the M62 motorway network. The town is served by the Metrolink tram service with regular services to East Didsbury.
There is also a bus service in the area. ‘The town has a population of 21,065. The area comprises a mix of independent and national retailers including Wetherspoon’s, Aldi, Iceland and a Greggs.’
The building, which has a floor space of 244 sq m over two floors, is marketed as, ‘a corner positioned building with return frontage and the bank’s ownership comprises the ground and first floor only. There is a small yard to the rear.’
Closure of the RBS branch was met with dismay from Shaw residents and councillors, notably Liberal Democrat opposition leader at Oldham Council Howard Sykes.
But the bank insisted: “The world of banking has changed a lot lately and the changes show no sign of slowing down.
“Most people are doing their day-to-day banking online by mobile apps or over the phone. More people are even doing bigger things that way, like opening a business account or getting a ban.
“Fewer people visit branches and they do fewer transactions when they there.”
Despite that, Cllr Sykes, who represents Shaw West, said: “The closure of the Royal Bank of Scotland is yet another blow to Shaw Town Centre.
“When RBS announced the closure of the Oldham Branch late last year, I wrote to the chief executive of RBS asking him to consider extending the opening times of the Shaw branch which is currently operating on a three-day week, especially in view of the imminent closure of Barclay’s Bank in Shaw. They declined this request.
“As it stands, Shaw and Crompton will now have no main stream banking services whatsoever other than the Post Office.
It is a sad fact of life that town centre banking services are quickly becoming extinct due to the rise in popularity of Internet banking, convenient for some but highly inconvenient for others, particularly businesses and people without access to the Internet, most commonly the elderly and vulnerable.
“Some people simply prefer not to use Internet banking so they are not at risk of increasingly clever Internet fraud.
“As an RBS customer myself I am disappointed that after the Yorkshire Bank closed, they canvassed myself and other residents of Shaw and Crompton to open an account at their branch only for them to shortly after reduce hours and now close.
The bank is always busy when open so there clearly is demand.
“I think RBS have missed a golden opportunity here, all banks want customers, where better to build your client base when you are the only bank in town?”