Metro Bank super fan Oliver opens new branch in Leicester city centre
Oliver had set himself a challenge to visit every store in the UK by the time he turned 13.
Super fan Oliver Benghiat has visited all 78 Metro Bank stores.
Submitted by Julie Urquhart
A 13-year-old Metro Bank superfan officially opened a new city centre branchlast month.
Oliver Benghiat, from Epsom, Surrey, has visited every branch in the UK, and opened the new store at 1 Haymarket in Leicester.
The new Leciester Metro Bank has created 15 new jobs for the area, and will operate seven days a week.
Oliver was inspired to set himself the challenge to visit every branch when, at 10-years-old, his local Metro Bank store in Sutton came to visit his school to deliver its Money Zone programme.
He said: “As more stores opened up the challenge got harder, but it was exciting to plan the next trip and see where it took us.
"The original aim was to complete it before my 12th birthday, but then Covid got in the way and all our travelling around had to stop.
“So then the target was to do it before I turned 13 and I managed this. I only had one store left to visit in August 2021 and my whole family and I were going to visit it in Liverpool but then I got Covid so we couldn't go, I was so sad as we had planned this for so long.
“Luckily we booked a trip up to Liverpool in October half term so that I could tick off the last Metro Bank before my 13th Birthday in the November.”
As a huge thank you for all his support, Oliver cut the official ribbon to commemorate the Leicester store opening.
The new store houses 6,000 safe deposit boxes and combines face-to-face banking with state-of-the-art technology, providing residents and businesses with a customer-focused and convenient banking experience.
Customers will be able to visit the store seven days a week, with no appointment needed, and open a personal or business account on-the-spot, leaving with their debit card in hand, along with internet and mobile banking set-up.
Metro Bank store manager, Stuart Williams, said: “We are proud to be opening Metro Bank’s second store in the East Midlands.
“We are looking forward to serving our local communities. All our colleagues have been recruited from Leicester so we already have a fantastic knowledge of the area – in fact we are all so local nearly every one of us can walk to work.”
Leicester companies and entrepreneurs will benefit from the appointment of local director Stu Hill and local business manager Suraj Madlani, both of whom are ready to help them run and grow their businesses, as well as having free use of the store’s meeting spaces.
Leicester Metro Bank’s local director, Stu Hill, said: “We have had a fantastic response from both the Leicester professional and business owner communities.
“Our People People approach to banking has been viewed as really refreshing - so much so that we have signed up a number of new business accounts even before we have opened.”
Metro Bank is famously very dog friendly. Water bowls and treats are available in store for four legged VIP visitors.
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