Barclays Local services to close in two Powys towns later this year

Barclays Local services will be closed in Llandrindod Wells on November 25 and Brecon on November 28 2025, removing yet more in-person banking options from communities in Powys.

The closures come despite Barclays reporting £8.1 billion in pre-tax profits in 2024, a 24% increase on the previous year.

The Barclays Local service in Llandrindod Wells has operated out of The Hive since Barclays Bank closed its branch in the town in August 2021, while the Brecon branch only closed in August 2023.

The “Local” service introduced as a scaled-down replacement to provide limited in-person support. Barclays Local offers face-to-face help with money management, digital skills and fraud prevention, delivered through pods, community pop-ups and mobile vans, though it does not handle cash transactions.

The closures mean residents will now have even fewer options for face-to-face banking.

Builth Wells will keep its local banking hub at the Strand Hall and the Mayor Councillor Mark Hammond has invited those who use the hubs in Llandrindod Wells and Brecon  to use the hub in Builth . It is open Wednesdays and Fridays 9am until 5pm with a lunchtime closure from 12.30pm until 1.30pm.

Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP David Chadwick has condemned the move, accusing Barclays of abandoning its commitments to local people:

“These so-called ‘Local’ branches were set up precisely because rural communities were being stripped of banking services. To now close them is both short-sighted and disgraceful.

“Barclays, like the other big banks, is making enormous profits while turning its back on towns like Brecon and Llandrindod.

“The big banks are walking away from their responsibilities, chasing profits while abandoning the very communities that built them up, and it is long past time the UK Government stepped in with tough regulation to hold them to account.”

Jane Dodds MS (Mid & West Wales) echoed his concerns, warning that the closures were part of a long trend of financial services disappearing from rural Wales:

“Communities across Mid Wales have seen branch after branch close in the last 15 years, and now even the Barclays Locals, which were supposed to plug the gap, are being pulled away.

The Liberal Democrats have been clear, banks cannot keep posting record profits while cutting off the very customers who make them. People and businesses in Brecon and Llandrindod still rely on these services. Barclays cannot claim to be serving their customers while taking away basic access to face-to-face support. We will be pressing them to retain cash machines and cash access in both towns, as these are extremely well used.”

Both representatives pledged to continue pressing for fair access to banking in rural areas, warning that Powys residents are being left behind in the rush to digital-only services. 

The Liberal Democrats recently were successful in securing a banking hub for Ystradgynlais, but have expressed frustration that current regulations do not allow for other towns in Mid Wales to obtain a banking hub currently.