Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5962/-1/130/
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NBA To Open Second Branch By September
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The people and businesses in the western end of Anguilla will have full banking services there in the latter half of the year when National Bank of Anguilla opens its new branch at the end of Lower South Hill in the approach to the island’s bustling tourism belt.
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NBA’s New Branch at Lower South Hill
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Representatives of the local media were taken on a tour of the towering building, now nearing completion, on Tuesday, May 20. The tour was conducted by NBA’s Chief Executive Officer, E. Valentine Banks, accompanied by Gareth Orchard, Director of the construction firm Orchard Romney Beck & Associates, and Marisa Gumbs, the bank’s Market Research and Business Development Officer.
The two-storey building with attractive local stonework in front, and painted in the same colours of the main Bank and Corporate Building in The Valley, opens up to barrel tunnel walkway which will provide shelter to customers entering and leaving the premises.
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Gareth Orchard, Marisa Gumbs and E. Valentine Banks
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Mr. Banks led the way to the downstairs section of the new building where he pointed out spaces for Customers and Staff entrance (including allotted passage ways for handicapped persons), two ATMs near the entrances, the Customer Lobby and Teller Counter, Loans Area, Board Room, Operations Area, Manager’s Office, Staff Canteen, Engineering Room, Records Room, Security Area, Cleaners’ Station and, one of the main features of the building, the large Drive-Thru Area at the back.
There is accommodation for eight serving areas for customers driving up in their vehicles, four of which will be commissioned at the start of operations. There will be a set of vacuum tubes at the drive-in where customers will fill in their deposit or withdrawal forms and shoot them over to the tellers manning the room. Each teller will be able to control two vehicles. There will be both in and out areas to facilitate the easy flow of vehicles. A Drive-Thru ATM and Night Deposit Box are also features at this area of the building.
The touring party then travelled to the second floor which can be accessed by an elevator or steps. There the media representatives were told that no activity was currently planned by NBA for the use of this section of the landmark edifice. The open floor space is enormous, to say the least, and is really part of the bank’s well-thought out futuristic plans in a rapidly developing business sector.
The downstairs portion of the building is about seven thousand square feet and the upstairs, ten thousand. “We are running several months ahead of schedule and will hopefully finish by the September,” said Gareth Orchard, who put the cost of the project at nine million East Caribbean dollars.
Mr. Banks, who stated that the contractors were doing a great job, told the media that NBA had already identified what was needed in terms of staffing involving some 17 employees, a number of whom will come from the existing workforce along with new recruits as may be required.
He explained that the new NBA branch would operate as a full-service centre but that all the specialised ‘back office’ areas of responsibility including Human Resources, Compliance, Audit, Risk, Certification/Verification and Marketing, would remain at the main branch.
The building sits on four acres of prime land, with breath-taking views of Anguilla’s southern coast and tourism development, the ocean and mountainous neighbouring French and Dutch Islands.