National law firm to expand into North East in former Newcastle bank site

A national law firm is poised to expand into the North East after snapping up a former bank in a Newcastle suburb.

The Barclays Bank unit on Gosforth High Street has lain empty ever since closing its doors to customers in March 2022 having operated as a bank for more than 125 years. The closure was among a number in the region, after the banking giant noted a fall in the number of people using its in-person services as many switched to digital banking.

Now, however, property company Bradley Hall has struck a deal with a law firm to let the prominent building. The company taking on the site has yet to be named, but it has chosen the property after looking to open a North East branch, Bradley Hall said.

The site had been operated as a bank by a number of companies over 128 years before its closure, originally operating as The North East Banking Company, which opened in 1894, following the development of Gosforth from Bulman Village into a wider residential area. The site then became Martin’s Bank in 1928 before being taken over by Barclays in 1969.

The lease was agreed by Henry Bowers and William Reavley from Bradley Hall’s commercial agency team, based at the firm’s city Newcastle centre head office.