What will happen to Bradford's former bank buildings?

The TSB branch at the bottom of Ivegate is due to shut in February once a new branch of the banking chain opens in a modern unit on Broadway.

It will be the latest in a number of impressive banking halls to have shut in recent years.

Just yards away from the TSB is the former Co-operative bank, which closed in 2020.

Last year Santander closed its Darley Street building due to “structural issues” and has since moved its city centre operation to The Broadway shopping centre.

Santander has this week told the Telegraph & Argus that it plans to sell the building. 

Leeds Building Society closed its Bank Street branch in November 2020 and Royal Bank of Scotland closed its Bank Street Branch in 2022.

NatWest consolidated its two city centre branches in 2017 – leaving the Hustlergate banking hall, one of the city’s most impressive heritage buildings, empty.

However, that building has a more certain future – having been earmarked for a new tearoom and café.

Many of these buildings date back to the height of Bradford’s Victorian splendour and are listed – offering them an extra degree of protection.

The T&A asked Bradford Council if it had any plans for how these buildings could be brought back into use.

It is hoped a proposed Heritage Action Zone, which could bring in extra funding to convince owners to bring their buildings back into use, could help.

Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, planning and transport, said: “As much as we are looking to Bradford’s future, we are also committed to preserving the heritage of our city centre where we can and have started work on the Heritage Action Zone proposal to bring in external funding.

"We are engaging with several building owners in the city centre to see how we can support bringing buildings back into use.

“Alongside this, there is significant investment happening which is transforming the city. One City Park has just completed, the entertainment venue Bradford Live and New Darley Street Market are due to open in 2024, as well as improvements already underway to the city centre environment and travel infrastructure.

“We are seeing increasing interest from private sector developers to create new uses for currently vacant buildings. 

The former Santander building on Darley Street/Kirkgate (Image: newsquest)

"This is an exciting time for Bradford and with City of Culture 2025 on the horizon we are seeing reinvigorated private sector interest.”

Councillor Si Cunningham (Lab, Bolton and Undercliffe) previously made calls for Bradford’s historic bank buildings to be preserved and better used when he was Chairman of Bradford Civic Society.

He said: “The fast-changing nature of the high street actually presents an opportunity to open up some of these grand old bank buildings, many of which will have never been fully seen by the public before because of their erstwhile secure usage.

“Bradford city centre hasn’t fared too badly when it comes to bank closures, and I think in the last few years we’ve only had a net loss of one high street bank when compared with other towns and cities. High street banks now favour agile, modern spaces, which frees up the old buildings for better cultural or creative uses.

“The historic bank buildings in Bradford are naturally quite civic spaces – they come with generous open halls, have lots of underused upper floor space, and are almost all listed, so they’re architecturally significant too. Obviously we’d love to see more hospitality and hosting spaces in the city centre, especially as we get closer to our year as UK City of Culture. There’ll also be a number of cultural organisations, locally and nationally, looking carefully at expanding into Bradford, so it’s great to have these options open to them too.”

Asked what he did not want to see happen to the banks, he said: “I think we all welcome more people living in the city centre, but we have to ensure that the private sector is delivering quality over quantity. Permitted Development laws have put listed buildings and traditional high streets at risk of over-saturation of low quality, small flats. It doesn’t serve anyone well to have more of those in any town or city centre.” 

Referring to the planned City Village - a development of 1,000 homes on sites in the city including the soon to be demolished Kirkgate Centre, he said: “The creation of 1,000 new homes and a new sustainable neighbourhood right at the heart of Bradford will be a really exciting chapter in the city’s development, but of course a lot of that new neighbourhood will incorporate some fantastic old buildings, including a handful of these former grand old bank buildings. People living in City Village will need places to shop, eat, drink, and will need access to new public services too, so it’s entirely feasible to see many of these former high street spaces finding new and innovative uses.

"One former bank in Leeds, for example, is currently being redeveloped as a specialist mathematics college. It’s encouraging to see these kind of sustainable uses elsewhere.”