Dudley Street at its junction with Queen Street is a worksite at the moment. 6 and 7 Dudley Street and 1 Queen Street are undergoing extensive redevelopment at present. The building that previously housed Herbert Brown jewellers and more recently, Phone Clinic and The Phone Shop, is being prepared for the first branch of Metro Bank in Wolverhampton. Interestingly, this corner has housed jewellers for many years prior to the recent phone shops. Before Herbert Brown, H Samuel was based here – in the older building at least. The current, tired looking building was erected in the 1960s and, it has to be said, will benefit from the renovation.

It is not just the old jewellers that will house Metro Bank however. For a few years, Wolverhampton’s Vodafone store stood next door to Herbert Brown at 7 Dudley Street and will soon also be part of Metro Bank – which demonstrates the scale at which they are working. The building is owned by Hortons’ Estate, who acquired it from Signet Plc in 2010, in a deal worth in excess of £1 million.

Who are Metro Bank?

Metro Bank is a retail bank that was founded in 2010 by Anthony Thomson and Vernon Hill. At the time of its launch, it was the first new high street bank in the UK in over 100 years. Its first branch opening in 2010 in Holborn, London, with chairman Anthony Thomson stating: “We believe customers simply want a better experience from their bank, the kind they typically get from a great retailer and that’s what we intend to give them.”

Metro Bank lets people open full accounts with debit and credit cards in branch and is open every day, including Sundays. Metro Bank is only closed on three public holidays a year – New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day.

“We believe customers simply want a better experience from their bank, the kind they typically get from a great retailer and that’s what we intend to give them,”

Anthony Thomson, Chairman

The new Metro Bank in Wolverhampton is set to be the fourth in the West Midlands following those at Birmingham, Solihull and the Merry Hill Centre. The chain plans to stick around for the foreseeable future. They have taken out a 25-year lease on 6 and 7 Dudley Street and 1 Queen Street. The work takes place as new retailers move into the nearby Mander Centre, fronting Dudley Street.

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