Barclays bank set to move into large former Sports Direct unit in Peterborough city centre

The unit on Long Causeway has sat vacant ever since Sports Direct closed down at the end of last year. The retailer how has a presence inside the Frasers department store in Queensgate.

Barclays already has a presence in the city centre, with a branch on Church Street but has submitted a planning application to take over the Long Causeway unit for a new branch.

The Peterborough Telegraph contacted Barclays to enquire about the future of the Church Street branch but was told that Barclays would not comment on this.

Nationally, Barclays is on a push to reopen high street branches to offer “all-important in-person experience” and to “restore traditional banking services.” The bank is seeking to reverse a wave of closures which has left them with just over 200 branches in the UK.

Barclays Chief Executive Vim Maru told the media that the bank wanted to offer help and support to its customers and free them from the experience of trying to get out of a loop with a chatbot.

Plans for Long Causeway state that the ground floor would provide “a welcoming and accessible banking hall” which would include service points and ATM facilities. Whereas, the first floor would be used for staff workspaces, storage, and ancillary facilities. There would be one external ATM machine.

The application will now be considered by Peterborough City Council and can be viewed on its planning portal, using reference 26/002123/FUL.