Newcastle Building Society is casting an eye to the future by burying a time capsule in the walls of its brand new branch in Gateshead’s prestigious Trinity Square.Pupils from Leam Lane’s Lingey House Primary School donated items to fill the time capsule and helped bury it alongside newly appointed branch manager Dale Barclay.
The school recently won the Society’s 2016 Boardroom Charity Challenge, part of a wider financial education programme provided to children and adults across the North East region. The capsule contained a school newsletter as well as a current £5 note, a newspaper from the day of the burial, and a TV guide for the week.
Due to open on Monday 11th July, with official launch events being held on 15th & 16th, the new flagship branch will replace the Society’s current High Street branch, which has served Gateshead and the surrounding areas for over 30 years.
Construction work is almost finished on the new premises, which have been designed to provide customers with a much better experience, including bigger private meeting spaces and improved access to staff. In addition to the traditional counter service, customers can also access financial planning advice provided by Newcastle Financial Services, a subsidiary of the Society. Large digital screens will keep customers up to date with products and promotions, and the Society’s community news..
The new Gateshead branch follows upgrades at Newcastle Building Society’s Cramlington and North Shields branches and the relocated Chester-le-Street branch towards the end of 2015.
Gateshead Branch Manager, Dale Barclay said: “We’ve been part of the local community for over three decades, during which time the town centre has changed dramatically and it makes sense for us to relocate into Trinity Square, the new heart of the town.
“We’ve been on the High Street for so long that we wanted to mark the significance of our relocation and felt that burying a time capsule would be the perfect way to bring our history with us to the new branch.
“The branch team have worked closely with the pupils from Lingey House over the past few months so it was a great opportunity to involve them in the project and give them a behind-the-scenes view of a branch under construction
“The launch of the branch is fast approaching us and we can’t wait to move into our new home and show our customers their much improved branch.”