A town centre bank branch has officially reopened following a successful revamp.

The Nationwide premises on New Conduit Street in Lynn are back up and running after a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by West Norfolk deputy mayor, Cllr Steven Bearshaw.

He congratulated staff at the bank for their hard work and commitment, paying tribute to efforts to keep the closure time to a minimum.

Modernisation work kicked off over the summer, with the closure taking place across 11 days before reopening on September 30. In that time, customers used alternative branches in Swaffham, Hunstanton and Wisbech.

Cllr Bearshaw used a shiny new pair of scissors to cut the ribbon, before staff handed out Nationwide shoulder bags to customers containing water bottles, pens and notepads.

Lynn branch manager Jo Ferrigno said: “We have kept the old layout as much as possible because it was already the best use of the space, except for adding in an internal brick wall which looks really nice.

“As the deputy mayor said, we did our best to keep the closure period to a minimum – the work took place around the clock, including overnight, to make sure it was finished as quickly as possible.

“The new customer desk area is a real asset too, because we didn’t have anything like that before. Now there is somewhere customers can easily sit down and have sort out their paperwork and have a quick chat with staff.

“The side offices have also been redone as part of the refurb and look great, as well as it being a comfortable space where customers can have their banking needs dealt with in private.

“We are all really enjoying working in such a lovely new environment, and everyone at the Lynn branch is also very pleased with Nationwide’s commitment that we – along with the other 604 branches in the UK – have been guaranteed to be kept open until 2030.”

Nationwide customer Liz Driscoll, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, added: “They have done a great job in there – although the first time I walked past a peered in through the windows after they reopened, I couldn’t tell what they had done.

“It looks really smart, and it is much easier to sort yourself out if you have brought in documentation and so on now that they have got the new desk area.

“I am quite a new customer at Nationwide, but I have found all the staff in the branches really helpful.

“I also have a disability and I think Nationwide are great around accessibility – I find their cash points really easy to use, when some banks seem to make everything more complicated than it needs to be.”