I remember my first day at work vividly. I boarded the 7.05am train at Clacton-on-Sea to take the 90-minute journey into London to start work at Coutts, the Queen's bank. It was 1987, the era of yuppies, wine bars and would-be Gordon Gekkos. Wearing my smart new suit from up and coming retailer Next, I marched into the bank's grand City branch at 15 Lombard Street, ready to take on the world. I marvelled at the illustrious banking hall with its gold-leafed ceiling and marble floor. I had made it, I thought. I hadn't of course and my Coutts days are long gone. So too, sadly, is the branch.

Where blue-blooded customers cashed their custom-made cheques and where the statue of the frock-coated Thomas Coutts, the bank's founder, once stood, there are now shelves packed with pork chops and chicken breasts. Why? Because 15 Lombard Street is now a.....Read more on this story----> Banks aren't charities, so don't complain when they shut their branches